Search results for Carlisle

Description

Gabriel Brown (formerly Aaron Wright), a registered sex offender from Carlisle, has been jailed for life after murdering a man, severing and eating his finger, and setting fire to his flat.

Brown, 35, was found guilty in July 2026 of murdering 58-year-old Joseph Ernest Johnston at the victim’s home in Annan on 19 November 2024. He stabbed Mr Johnston 22 times, cut off his ring finger, cooked and ate it, carved letters into his face, and started multiple fires in the property. He was sentenced in late August 2026 at the High Court in Glasgow to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 23 years.

Brown had previously lived in Carlisle and was jailed in 2018 under the name Aaron (or Arron) Wright for child sex offences. He admitted four counts of sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl and three of causing or inciting her to engage in sexual activity, committed several years earlier in Carlisle. He was sentenced to five years, placed on the sex offenders’ register for life, and given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order. The victim later said she suffered “horrifying nightmares” and that the abuse had “knocked my confidence, and reduced me to little self-esteem.”

Police Scotland confirmed it was aware of the name change from Wright to Brown. A spokesman said public safety is a priority and that multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) ensure name changes are known, risk-assessed and recorded. Under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, Section 84, registered sex offenders must notify police within three days of using a new name (including aliases, usernames or email addresses). Failure to do so is a criminal offence punishable by up to five years in prison. Police said they proactively enforce the requirements and report breaches to the Procurator Fiscal.

At trial, it emerged Brown had never met Mr Johnston before the night of the murder, though Mr Johnston had previously been in a relationship with Brown’s stepmother. Brown claimed he was possessed by the spirit of Victorian occultist Aleister Crowley and suffering from a mental disorder, but the jury rejected this defence. Detective Inspector Graeme Robertson described the actions as “completely senseless and reckless.” Scottish court reports noted Brown’s status as a convicted sex offender but did not link the convictions to his earlier offences in Cumbria under the name Wright.

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A man has been jailed for three breaches of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and two breaches of sex offender notification requirements.

Sean Worley, 33, of no fixed abode was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court on 4 September to two years and four months in prison.

Worley was made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and Sex Offender Notification Requirements following convictions for serious child sex offences between 2016 and 2024.

Management of Sexual and Violent Offenders (MOSOVO) officers visited Worley on 5 July 2026 as part of a routine compliance check, during which his mobile phone was examined.

As part of his Sexual Harm Prevention Order, Worley is required to retain the search history on his devices. Officers found that this had been deleted, prior to their visit, at 6.30am on 5 July.

Officers also discovered that Worley had recently deleted a number of social media and dating applications, which he had been using to make contact with hundreds of women.

He did not have permission from his offender manager to create or use these accounts, placing him in breach of his Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
 

Detective Constable, Anna Ritson, of the MOSOVO team said:

"Sex offender notification requirements and Sexual Harm Prevention Orders are designed to help protect the public and manage offenders in the community. We take any breaches of these measures extremely seriously.

“MOSOVO officers carry out regular checks to ensure offenders are complying with court-imposed conditions, and we will continue to take robust action against those who fail to do so."

Description

Man Jailed for Nine Years for Rape in Carlisle

Liman Matubber, 26, formerly of Warwick Road, Carlisle, has been sentenced to nine years in prison after a jury at Carlisle Crown Court convicted him of rape and threatening a person with a blade.

Matubber denied the offences and continues to protest his innocence. The court heard he forced himself on the woman despite her repeated protests that she did not want sex and threatened her with a knife, causing her to fear she was about to be stabbed and scream.

Summarising the offence, Judge Michael Fanning said: “She repeatedly told him she did not want to have sex. But you had sex against her will and against her protests.”

Matubber appeared via prison video link, at times holding his head in his hands. The jury returned majority guilty verdicts on both counts.

Defence barrister John Crawford said the defendant had encountered a “significant cultural shift” since moving to the UK. He was granted asylum after claiming political persecution in Bangladesh and had experienced suicidal feelings while in custody.

Judge Fanning noted Matubber’s previous good character and said authorities would consider the risks he would face if returned to Bangladesh. He told the defendant: “The fact that you have been convicted of serious offences in this country does not mean that you deserve to be thrown to the wolves back in Bangladesh; this country rightly protects even those who commit the worst offences...”

The judge described the rape as “deeply traumatic” and ordered Matubber to be placed on the Sex Offender Register indefinitely. He now faces possible deportation after serving his sentence.

Detective Constable Josh Daniel said after the hearing:

“I would like to thank the victim for her bravery in reporting what happened to her to police.

“I hope the sentence passed today gives the victim in this case some closure.

“We continue to urge anyone who has been victim of a sexual offence to contact police so that our officers can investigate.

“We understand how difficult it can be to come forward, and we are committed to supporting victims every step of the way.”

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Convicted Child Rapist Refuses Laptop Passwords in £5m Drug Profits Hearing, Citing Past Fraud

A convicted child rapist who ran a multi-million-pound black-market prescription drugs operation with his partner has told a judge he is reluctant to disclose his computer passwords because he was previously a “victim of fraud”.

Christopher Templeman, 39, and Lisa Marie Harper, 40, are both serving long prison sentences for their crimes.

For nearly three years the couple operated from a 30-foot storage unit in Carlisle, selling stolen medication – including steroids and highly addictive opioids – to customers worldwide. At least one buyer, a teenager in Scotland, died from a fatal overdose after taking pills they supplied.

The pair were back at Carlisle Crown Court for a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing as prosecutors seek to recover an estimated £5 million in criminal profits.

Prosecutor Gerard Rogerson told Judge Michael Fanning that the key to establishing the full scale of the profits is Templeman’s laptop, which is believed to contain bitcoin wallets linked to drug sales.

Defence experts had heavily criticised police valuations of the drugs, but Rogerson said proper assessment was only possible with access to the laptop.

“So far, Mr Templeman has refused to provide access,” he said.

Templeman’s barrister, John Lamb, said he was applying for legal aid for an expert to examine the device and was confident its contents could be accessed. When asked if police would also be given access, Lamb replied that his client was “concerned about personal information on there, independent of the relevance of these proceedings”.

Judge Fanning noted that only Templeman knows what is on the laptop and warned that without access, police would have to base their assessment on existing evidence.

Appearing via video link from prison, Templeman told the judge: “At no point have I denied access to the prosecution; I don’t know the password, but I believe it may be a password I have used regularly.”

Rogerson suggested Templeman simply provide the likely password so police could examine the laptop in “sanitised” conditions.

Templeman replied: “I’ve been a victim of fraud before; I don’t want to give out a massive list of passwords.”

The judge adjourned the case until 15 June to allow both sides to explore “joint access” to the laptop.

Operation run from a 30-feet long storage unit

In May 2025, Templeman was jailed for nine years and Harper, a former carer, for six years after they admitted conspiring to supply prescription drugs.

Police recovered pills worth £1.5 million from the storage unit, plus almost £5,000 cash and £600,000 in bitcoin held in Templeman’s name.

Templeman was previously convicted in 2009, aged 21, of multiple child rapes after a trial at which a video he recorded of himself abusing his 12-year-old victim was played in court.

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Carlisle child sex offender jailed for hiding phones and social media accounts

A CHILD sex offender from Carlisle who concealed phones and social media accounts from police has blamed his latest offending on “isolation” caused by his past crimes.

Allan Smith, 38, of Hawick Street, was placed on the Sex Offender Register in 2017 after grooming a 15-year-old girl online and sexually abusing her.

He was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court for six new breaches: three of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) and three of Sex Offender Register rules.

Prosecutor Adam Quine told the court Smith failed to notify police of five social media accounts he was using, concealed two mobile phones, did not disclose usernames for online accounts, failed to declare several bank cards, and did not reveal he had stayed at a property in Penrith where a child was living.

The breaches followed Smith’s original 2017 offences, when, aged 27, he contacted the 15-year-old girl via Facebook, accepted her friend request, and sent messages requesting photographs of her in underwear and without, before asking for sex. In 2024 he was also prosecuted for exposure after being seen performing a sex act in a neighbour’s front garden.

When questioned by police, Smith falsely claimed he did not use the internet and had no social media accounts.

Defence barrister Marion Weir said Smith was “at a loss” to explain his behaviour but cited the impact of his registered-offender status. 

“His accommodation has been set on fire, his doors glued, and his windows broken,” she said. “He seems to revert back to his old behaviour almost like a comfort blanket.

“He has lost his grandparents this has led to a feeling of isolation and a lack of emotional support. He recognises that if he continues on this path, it will become a revolving door at HMP Durham.”

Weir added that Smith planned to move to another part of Cumbria where his past was less well known and “knows he has to change his behaviour.” She confirmed there were no underlying sexual offences linked to the breaches.

Judge Michael Fanning described the 2017 case as grooming a 15-year-old girl followed by a serious contact sexual offence, and noted the more recent offence of sending a female a picture of his genitals to cause alarm and distress.

The judge accepted the child at the Penrith property was a boy and had not been at risk.

Smith was jailed for two years, plus a further eight weeks for the activation of a suspended sentence. He previously lived at Stonegarth, Carlisle.

Description

A paedophile who showed no remorse for six years of sexual abuse he inflicted on a young girl has been jailed for 22 years.

In 2020, Lancashire Constabulary received a report from a now-adult woman that Kenneth Paisley, 68, of Chatsworth Square, Carlisle, had raped and abused her as a child. The abuse lasted around six years and resulted in her becoming pregnant while still a child.

Paisley was arrested and bailed. After DNA testing confirmed he was the biological father of the victim’s child, he was re-arrested and provided a prepared statement accepting paternity but blaming the victim, claiming she had instigated consensual sex.

Following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, he was charged with 13 counts of rape, indecent assault and three counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl.

Paisley pleaded not guilty, but a jury convicted him of all 13 counts of rape.

He was sentenced earlier this month to 22 years in prison and ordered to sign the sex offenders register.

DC Cathryn Whitworth, of Lancashire Constabulary, said:

“Firstly, I want to talk about the victim.

"She was incredibly brave in coming forward and telling us about what happened to her.

"In her Victim Personal Statement, she told the court that Paisley stole her childhood.

“Despite this, she gathered the courage to come forward and tell the court details of abuse she suffered.

"I do not doubt that that strength and courage assisted in bringing Paisley to justice.

“Paisley is a paedophile who abused a girl for his own sordid sexual interests. He showed no remorse and blamed the victim.

"He is a despicable man, and I am relieved he has been brought to justice.

“Paisley has received a significant sentence for his crimes, and I hope the knowledge that the victim has been listened to and believed and that Paisley is now serving a significant custodial sentence brings the victim some sense of justice, and she can begin to move forward with her life.”

Description

A man who was found to have possessed more than 900 indecent images of children and committed multiple breaches of his sexual harm prevention order has been jailed for two years and eight months.

Jay Hamilton, aged 42, of Lowther Street, Carlisle, was sentenced today (9 January) at Carlisle Crown Court for three counts of making indecent images, three breaches of a sexual harm prevention order and failing to comply with sex offender notification requirements.

Hamilton’s offending was uncovered when officers from the force’s MOSOVO (Management of Sexual Offenders and Violent Offenders) team carried out a proactive visit to ensure he was complying with the conditions of the court orders.

Officers visited Hamilton on 27 November and found several internet-enabled devices which he attempted to withhold from officers when they conducted their enquiries.

Following a review of a phone found, officers uncovered a series of online usernames Hamilton was using on social media and online dating sites – which he had not notified offender managers of and therefore failed to comply with sex offender notification requirements.

A full forensic examination of one of the phones recovered found 934 indecent images of children, with 397 of them being assessed to be Category A images – images which depict the most serious abuse of children.

Detective Constable Jess Myers, of the Cumberland MOSOVO team, said:

“Making indecent images of children is a serious offence and our team are committed to rooting out individuals like Hamilton for their abhorrent behaviour.

“When interviewed and presented with the facts, Hamilton accepted that he knew he had breached his sexual harm prevention order and failed to comply with his sex offender notification requirements.

“MOSOVO officers play a vital role in safeguarding communities by rigorously managing registered sex offenders, ensuring compliance with legal requirements, and holding individuals such as Hamilton accountable for their actions.”

Description

A man from Carlisle was jailed yesterday (2 Dec) for making indecent images of children.

David Wilson, aged 52, of Admiral Way, Carlisle was sentenced to 20 months prison for multiple counts of making indecent images of children between August 2024 and July 2025.

He was also made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for a period of 10 years.

Wilson, a registered sex offender, was arrested in July 2025 after he was visited at his home address by his Offender Manager where a search of his devices located the files.

Over 60 files showing a sexual interest in children were found.

It was determined the Wilson had been accessing the dark web using Virtual Private Networks to disguise his identity.

Detective Constable Anna Ritson, from Cumbria’s Management of Sexual or Violent Offenders (MOSOVO) department said:

“Wilson is a dangerous offender, and it is evident that he went to significant efforts to hide his offending.

“MOSOVO officers play a vital role in safeguarding communities by rigorously managing registered sex offenders, ensuring compliance with legal requirements, and holding individuals accountable for their actions.

“We take a zero-tolerance approach against anyone found to breaching the terms of their requirements or committing any further offences.” 

Description

A man has today (Nov 17) has been jailed for rape committed in Carlisle. 

Paul Beattie, 59, currently serving time in prison was today sentenced to 10 years six months.

The offences were against one woman in 1992 and 1993.

The sentence also includes a five years extended licence.

Detective Constable Kerry Gibson from Cumberland Rape and Serious Sexual Offences team said:

“Beattie subjected the victim to a violent attack which it was clear no consent was given.

“This case highlights that no matter how much time has passed we will take action against dangerous offenders to bring them to justice.

“If you are a victim of sexual offences, don’t suffer in silence, please tell someone and report this to police so that we can investigate.

“Support is also available and is tailored to an individual’s circumstances and work closely with trusted partner agencies.”

Description

A registered Carlisle sex offender has a jail term "hanging over his head" after creating online usernames without notifying police.

Daniel Gardner, 53, was sentenced to three years in prison in 2016 for downloading and distributing indecent photographs of children. Carlisle Crown Court heard he also discussed child abuse online with adults and children, and incited youngsters to engage in sexual activity. He admitted 13 charges, with the youngest victim purportedly aged 11.

As punishment, Gardner was placed on the sex offender register indefinitely, requiring him to inform police of personal details and online use.

However, Carlisle Magistrates’ Court heard he violated this by creating three usernames: two earlier this year, and one between January 2021 and September this year. He admitted three failures to comply.

Defense solicitor Adele Graham noted Gardner, of Levens Drive, Carlisle, pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, was compliant in interviews, and deeply remorseful. A probation report recommended community-based punishment, citing his low mood and anxiety, which prison would exacerbate.

District Judge Philip Holden called the original crimes "extremely serious." "You know well you are not to create online usernames without first telling the police about them," he said.

He imposed a 24-week suspended prison sentence for two years, plus rehabilitation and a 26-day program. "You know now that this is hanging over your head," the judge told Gardner. "If you don’t comply, you know what’s going to happen. You have come very close to going to prison today. Take this chance. Comply with your order."

Description

A man from Carlisle has today (3 Nov) been jailed to four years six months for multiple offences

Brian Marsden, 65, of Stonegarth, Carlisle was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court for the following offences:

• Three counts of gross indecency with a girl
• Three counts of indecent assault on a girl
• Assaulting a young person to cause unnecessary suffering

The offences occurred between 1997 and 2002.

Detective Constable Kate Cunningham, Rape and Serious Sexual Offence (RASSO) Engagement officer who was the investigating officer in the case said:

“Marsden subjected his victims to multiple incidents of abuse, which he denied in interview.

“Today, he faces the consequences of his actions.

“Offences of this nature have a lasting impact, with the victims continuing to experience the psychological impact of the abuse they faced in adult life.

“We hope this encourages others who might have been subjected to such instances of historical abuse to come forward as no amount of time is a barrier to reporting offences.”

Description

A high-risk sex offender with a long history of targeting lone females resumed offending after moving to Carlisle and changing his name.

The case of 42-year-old Grant Huddart, formerly Grant Percival, whose victims have included children, has drawn criticism from national campaigners calling for stricter controls on sex offenders.

A News & Star investigation revealed that Cumbria Constabulary is supervising dozens of convicted sex offenders who have changed their names, allowing paedophiles like Huddart to restart lives without others easily discovering their past.

At Carlisle Crown Court, prosecutor Georgia Kennedy-Curnow detailed Huddart's February offense. He arrived in the city after serving time for sexually assaulting a young Kendal woman in June 2024, where he gained her sympathy by claiming to be suicidal.

In Carlisle, the victim—a young bar worker—was not assaulted, but Huddart's actions mirrored his prior crime. On February 23, while she collected glasses, he stared at her and asked: "Excuse me – can I ask you a question?" Then: “Would you care if I killed myself?”

Concerned, she offered tea. He asked if she hated him, if he was good-looking, and said he wanted to kill himself. He called her beautiful, adding: “I’d really like to say what I’d like to do you.” She declined. Before leaving, he requested a cuddle; she alerted police.

The court heard Huddart's 25 prior offenses, including breaches of sexual harm prevention orders and sex crimes:

• 2003: Indecently assaulting a 14-year-old girl walking home from school.
• 2004: Sexually assaulting another 14-year-old in an alleyway.
• 2011: Offering a 14-year-old money for sex.
• 2011: Fixating on a female bus driver, staying aboard five hours and recording her.
• 2012: Sending a malicious or menacing message.
• 2014: Approaching a 13-year-old, claiming suicidality, and asking for hugs.
• 2018: Grooming an online female he believed was 15.
• 2024: Assaulting a 20-year-old in Kendal, lying about being a grieving father whose 18-month-old daughter died.

Defending, Clare Thomas said Huddart accepted responsibility, despite a probation officer's view otherwise. “He was consuming alcohol for the first time in a number of months,” she noted. He progressed in Lancashire supported housing but moved to Carlisle's John Street hostel when it ended. Local authorities deem him too "high risk" for accommodation in the next 12 months.

His sexual harm prevention order, barring approaches to lone females, left him feeling hopeless and lonely, Thomas said. Verbal abuse followed local press coverage of his 2024 case; he sought a Carlisle ban for a fresh start elsewhere.

Judge Michael Fanning addressed Huddart's complaints about press coverage and orders increasing isolation: “But your past interactions with women demonstrate that you seem to be incapable of forming a relationship in an appropriate way at all."

“So far as the reporting is concerned, the public, and in particular females who are vulnerable and who are alone, are entitled to know that you pose a risk to them.”

The judge said press reporting on his "predilections and location" is justified; anonymity would enable more offending. He jailed Huddart for 18 months.

A new indefinite sexual harm prevention order prohibits approaching female strangers, except inadvertently, for goods/services, or in therapy.

A News & Star FOI request showed Cumbria Police supervising 48 sex offenders who changed names in the last five years, costing as little as £15. Numbers rose: 15 in 2023, 12 in 2024, four so far this year.

In December 2024, 932 sex offenders were supervised in the community; by July 2025, it was 939—up from under 800 in 2020-2021. Most stem from convictions; others from civil orders like sexual risk orders.

Emily Konstantas of The Safeguarding Alliance welcomed government plans but urged more:

"The ability for registered sex offenders to change their names without proper monitoring remains an open loophole, one that has been exploited, is being exploited, and will continue to be until it is fully closed.

"It enables offenders to evade vital checks and places vulnerable children and adults at significant risk.

"While we welcome the Government’s recognition of this issue through the Crime and Policing Bill, the proposed reforms do not go far enough.

"Legislative change must be robust, enforceable, and capable of addressing both future and past exploitation of this loophole. 

"When someone sexually abuses a child or an adult, the victim’s rights must take precedence. Survivors cannot erase their trauma with a simple name change, and neither should an offender be able to erase their identity or their past to avoid accountability.

"We need a joined-up, mandatory system that ensures any name change by a registered offender is immediately flagged and shared across all relevant agencies. Anything less continues to fail the very people this system is meant to protect.

"We will continue to campaign for Della’s Law [an abuse survivor] as long as this loophole remains a risk." 

Labour MP Sarah Champion said:

"Across the country sex offenders are changing their names to avoid detection or to frustrate the justice system. This legal loophole makes us all more vulnerable and needs to be closed.

"Successive Ministers have recognised the threat of sex offenders changing their name, but the solutions they offer require the abuser to do the right thing - which seldom happens."

The Crime and Policing Bill requires sex offenders to notify police of name changes a week in advance; police can refuse if needed for public protection.

For details on reforms—and why they won't apply to all offenders—see the government's Crime and Policing Bill summary.

England and Wales have over 70,000 registered sex offenders in the community, up 52% from 2014.

Della's Law, partly enacted, aims to prevent registered sex offenders from changing names to evade detection.

Description

A Carlisle sex offender, Paul Robertson, 48, was caught with 38 extreme pornographic videos depicting women being shot with guns and crossbows before being sexually abused.

Previously jailed in 2013 for downloading indecent child images and causing death by dangerous driving, Robertson admitted five offences at Carlisle Crown Court: possessing extreme pornographic images, two counts of failing to comply with the Sex Offender Register by not disclosing online usernames, and two breaches of his sexual harm prevention order by not reporting internet-connected devices.

Police, alerted by monitoring software, found a hidden PlayStation 5 and a USB stick containing the illegal videos, downloaded in 2023, during a search of Robertson’s home. Prosecutor Andrew Evans said Robertson claimed he thought the videos, which he found “too much,” were not illegal and believed he couldn’t delete them. Defence barrister Marion Weir acknowledged the “serious and shocking” nature of the content but noted Robertson’s ADHD diagnosis, which affects his memory and impulse control. She highlighted his willingness to address his behaviour and that the videos included a disclaimer suggesting no harm was caused.

Judge Nicholas Barker called the videos “deplorable, depraved” and condemned the “disturbing and immoral” concept of such imagery. He sentenced Robertson to a 14-month suspended jail term for two years, including 25 rehabilitation activity days, 180 hours of unpaid work, and a Building Better Choices Programme. The existing sexual harm prevention order remains indefinitely.

Description

A man from Carlisle was been jailed at Carlisle Crown Court on Tuesday 16 September.

Brian Light, 36, of Trafalgar Street, Carlisle was sentenced to nine years.

He was found guilty of two offences including rape following a weeklong trial.

He also pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm and criminal damage.  

Detective Constable Gabrielle Nicholson from Cumberland CID said:

“Following the courage and strength in the victim in this case reporting the matter to the Police and a after a trial earlier in July, today justice has been brought against Light. 

“If you are a victim of sexual offences, don’t suffer in silence.

“As with this case we will investigate and bring offenders to justice, so please tell someone and report this to police so that we can investigate.

“Support is also available throughout any investigation and is tailored to an individual’s circumstances and we work closely with trusted partner agencies.” 

Description

A man from Carlisle has today (September 10) been jailed at Carlisle Crown Court for indecent image offences.

Richard Lawrie, 50, of Tribune Drive, Houghton, Carlisle. was jailed to two years for ten offences which include making indecent photographs of a child, possessing extreme pornographic images and failing to comply with notification requirements of the sex offenders register.

Lawrie was arrested in June 2025.

PC Andrew Minnion from Cumbria’s Management of Sexual & Violent Offenders (MOSOVO) team said:

“Lawrie is a dangerous offender who had 350 Category A images on his devices and had shared images to others.

"Every indecent image of child means that somewhere a child has been a victim of abuse.

"There is no excuse for accessing or sharing these types of images and we will continue to work hard to bring those that do so to justice in order to protect children."

“Cumbria’s MOSOVO team are committed to managing sexual offenders and will take a zero-tolerance approach against anyone found to breaching the terms of their requirements.”