Latest Offenders Carlisle

Description

A CARLISLE man convicted of a sexual assault and accused of stealing women’s underwear from a washing line has been banned from approaching “lone females.”

Damien Christopher Smith, 34, who blamed his sexual offence on the victim's choice of clothing and her makeup, was given a five-year sexual harm prevention order.

A district judge approved the order after hearing an application from Cumbria Constabulary, presented by lawyer Gemma Rogerson.

She outlined how Smith, of Shadygrove Road, Raffles, was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman in June of last year by inappropriately touching her over her clothing while making sexual comments.

During a police interview about the offence, said Miss Rogerson, he sought to blame the victim because of what she was wearing and her red lipstick.

“What does she expect?” he asked the officer.

Police were also aware of a further incident on June 8, when Smith allegedly went into a person’s garden and stole female underwear from the washing line, said Miss Rogerson.

There was concern about Smith’s understanding of the severity of his offending.

Miss Rogerson asked the court to impose a five-year order which will prohibit him from approaching any lone female in a public place, or initiating conversation with lone females in a public place, unless he is obtaining goods or services.

This would only be acceptable if such an incident was “inadvertent”. District Judge John Temperley said he was satisfied the legal test for him to make the sexual harm prevention order was satisfied.

Not only was there a relevant conviction - the sexual assault conviction - said the judge, there were relevant alleged incidents demonstrating "similar behaviour" from 2021 and from early 2023, though they did not lead to convictions.

“I am satisfied that the order is necessary,” said the District Judge.

He told the defendant: “You are prohibited from physically approaching, or initiating conversation with, or seeking to physically approach, or seeking to initiate, conversation with any lone female."

Breaching the conditions of the order would be a criminal offence, punishable by a potential prison term of up to five years.

Smith will also continue to be on the Sex Offender Register for the full five years while the order is in place, said the judge. For the sexual assault last year, the defendant was given a one-year community order.

The sentence included 100 hours of unpaid work and an order to pay compensation of £200 to the victim.

Description

A CARLISLE sex offender previously described as “dangerous” is back behind bars after he set up secret online accounts.

Registered sex offender Joshua Watson, 26, has already served a jail term for failing to comply with a sexual harm prevention order that means he has to notify the police of his online accounts.

At Carlisle Crown Court, he admitted four new offences. The defendant, of Beaumont Road, Carlisle, pleaded guilty to:

• Breaching his sexual harm prevention order in July by possessing an internet enabled device with a WhatsApp application which featured an “auto delete” function for messages.
• And three counts of failing to comply with his obligation under the Sex Offender Register by failing to disclose to the police his usernames online accounts he had set up. All three breaches - one for each of the social media accounts involved - were committed on dates between June 30 and July 24.

His defence barrister said Watson’s primary mitigation was his prompt guilty pleas to the four offences.

In January last year, Watson was recalled to prison for illegally acquiring a mobile phone and setting up a Snapchat account without telling the police.

He committed that offence a year after he was sentenced for downloading dozens of indecent child images and at the time he was awaiting sentence for buying alcohol for teenage girls and making sexual suggestions to them.

Watson was put on the Sex Offender Register for a decade. This requires that he must inform the police of any online accounts he opens or uses, and reveal the relevant username.

He must also register with the police all his internet enabled devices with the police within three days of acquiring them.

All his devices must be fitted with police monitoring software and be capable of displaying internet history.

In the January offending last year, police found a mobile phone he had failed to register with them after visiting Watson at his home. He claimed a relative gave it to him the day before and he planned to inform the police the next day.

But when police examined the phone, it was immediately apparent that Watson acquired the phone much earlier than he said. Watson then claimed he had simply forgotten to tell police about the phone.

He then blamed his failure to tell the police about the phone on “stress” linked to his parents’ splitting up and the death of his dog.

The prosecutor in that case told the court:  “The police take the view that he’s a dangerous offender and obviously these are serious offences, committed very shortly after he was released."

Description

A CARLISLE sex offender who preyed on vulnerable young males has been found guilty of raping a second victim and sexually assaulting a third.

A judge told 48-year-old convicted child rapist Barrie O’Keefe that experts will now assess how dangerous he is following his conviction for raping a 20-year-old man and sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.

The new offences against the teenager and the older victim bore chilling similarities to O’Keefe’s earlier rape of a 15-year-old boy, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

He plied all three victims with alcohol and drugs to render them helpless before sexually abusing them. Both teenagers were attacked after being lured away by O’Keefe for overnight fishing trips which involved spending the night in a tent.

Formerly of Denton Holme, Carlisle, O’Keefe denied all the offences, committed 18 years ago, but he was convicted after a four-day trial.

Judge Michael Fanning ruled that O’Keefe will be sentenced on a date which has yet to be fixed following the preparation of background reports and the dangerousness assessment. The judge also requested victim person statements.

He told O’Keefe: “I require victim personal statements so that I understand the real impact these awful offences have had on your victims.

“There is the complicating factor that you were sent to prison for offences committed at the same time, offending that was virtually identical. I am concerned about your conduct towards young boys, and young men.

“Whether you are dangerous is something I have to give consideration to and I require reports to assist that.”

After remanding O’Keefe in custody, the judge thanked the jury, pointing out that the offences before the court changed the lives of the two victims and he needed more information about the impact of O’Keefe’s “hideous offending.”

“He is going to receive an inevitably lengthy sentence of imprisonment,” added the judge.

The older victim told the trial that O’Keefe had “ruined his life.”

He recalled how on the day when England were playing Portugal in the World Cup in 2006, the defendant plied him with drink and cannabis, leaving him “wasted.”

O’Keefe then sneaked into the room of the house where the man was living and rendered him helpless with drugs known as “poppers” before raping him.

“It just ruined my life," said the man. "I couldn't cope with it; I was angry, drinking too much. I wasn’t able to make rational decisions or deal with things. It got to the point where it was ruining my life.”

O'Keefe was also convicted of sexually touching a second teenager.

In April, police persuaded a court to impose a “sexual risk order” on O’Keefe which bans him from being in the company of any lone male.

Cumbria Constabulary applied for the order after revealing that O’Keefe had been a suspect in multiple rape investigations.

Granting the order, the district judge said:  “This defendant has demonstrated a propensity to target and sexually abuse vulnerable males for many years.”

Description

A REGISTERED sex offender was snared by artificial intelligence as he flouted a strict court order by viewing perverted internet images of children.

Thomas Young, 34, had appeared at Carlisle Crown Court a decade ago when he was sentenced for inciting a girl aged under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

As part of the punishment, Young was made subject to the strict terms of a sexual offences prevention order (SOPO). This imposed tough curbs on his online use for an indefinite period.

Young was twice brought back to court for breaching the SOPO, once in 2023 and then again in early February when he received a suspended prison sentence.

But within days of being spared jail, Young flouted the order once more.

“Police were first alerted on March 15 of this year by e-safe global software installed on the defendant’s phone,” prosecutor Brendan Burke told the city’s crown court.

“That software captures and screenshots any activity which the artificial intelligence detects to be of a suspicious or concerning nature.”

On that date, two indecent category C images were logged. Three days later, a further four were detected along with one image classed in category A — the most serious — involving a girl aged 12 to 14 years.

All images had been accessed via the Telegram platform. And Mr Burke said analysis showed that from February 11 — just days after his last crown court appearance — and March 18, Young had installed and then uninstalled the Telegram application a dozen times.

This was a flagrant breach of the SOPO, which was designed to make all such data available for scrutiny, and display internet history.

In addition, Young was found to have flouted sex offender notification requirements by failing to disclose two online usernames which had been active around the turn of this year.

When brought to court Young admitted making indecent photographs of a child, breaching the SOPO and twice flouting the notification requirements.

The category A image, said Mr Burke, had been captured by Young from a video of two hours, 31 minutes’ duration.

Defence lawyer Jeff Smith, mitigating, said of Young: “He can provide no real explanation as to why he finds himself in the position that he does.”

Young had been “lonely” and taken cocaine which, he suggested, may have altered his judgement and failed to impress upon him the consequences of his actions.

Judge Nicholas Barker jailed Young, latterly of Warwick Square, Carlisle, for 18 months. New strict court orders placing restrictions on him, and an obligation to regularly provide police with personal information, were imposed for 10 years.

“You knew that by doing those actions you were likely putting yourself, not just at risk, but of receiving an immediate custodial sentence,” Judge Barker told Young.

Description

A teenage sex offender has been jailed after he was found to have communicated with a child.

Ryan Walker, 18, was given a 14-month youth detention order at Carlisle Crown Court on Thursday.

The court heard Walker, who pleaded guilty to the offences, had engaged in sexual communication with a child and had caused a child to watch an indecent image.

He had also failed to comply with notification requirements of the sex offenders register.

Det Con Anna Ritson, from Cumbria Police, said Walker's phone was seized as part of the investigation and undeclared accounts found.

"Officers located a number of online usernames and a new passport which had not been notified to police by Walker, who was well aware of his notification requirements," she said.

“Also located were messages exchanged between Walker and a child.”

She added: "Our main priority is to protect vulnerable people from sexual harm and we work hard to monitor and manage people who are subject to such orders."

Description

A SHOCKED mother sat in a Carlisle court listening to a harrowing account of how her son had secretly viewed sickening child rape videos.

Former Broughton Moor man Ben Robinson-Brown viewed videos of children aged four, five and eight as they were raped and boasted to a contact of watching footage of a ten-year-old girl being gang-raped, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

As Judge Nicholas Barker passed sentence, he told the defendant his mother's face as she heard those distressing details showed her “disbelief and disgust”.

Robinson-Brown, formerly of Broughton Moor, Maryport, but now living at Wreay, near Carlisle, admitted five offences.

Three related to him downloading 29 indecent child images, 15 of them Category A, the most serious kind; one was possessing extreme pornography, and there was one count of distributing a Category C indecent child image.

Prosecutor Brendan Burke outlined the facts.

He said police acting on intelligence raided the defendant’s home and seized three devices, a laptop, an iPhone and an iPad. The illegal images included three videos, one just under a minute long and two just over a minute.

They showed men raping girls aged four, five and eight. All three victims were clearly distressed, said Mr Burke.

Another video showed sex between people and dogs. Mr Burke then outlined the evidence of how the defendant chatted online with a person, posing initially as a 14-year-old girl and then later discussing gang raping an 11-year-old.

The defendant also sent the contact a sexual image of a 10-year-old girl. The prosecutor said: “He tells [the contact] that he’s in the business of renting out eight to 15-year-old females and he is looking to trade in indecent images.

“He tries and fails to boast that he’s seen a 10-year-old female being gang raped – something he’d seen in a video.”

Marion Weir, defending, said Robinson-Brown had done much “soul searching” since his offending came to light.

The barrister said: “He’s an intelligent young man who in many ways is more mature than his 23 years. These offences were 18 months ago, and he says the person who committed these offences is very different to the person who appears in court.”

The defendant’s background included the pandemic and the death of his great grandmother, a person he regarded as his best friend.

“There’s nothing which can excuse the offending,” said the barrister. “He is disgusted by his behaviour and disappointed in himself; and distraught at the impact that this has had on those he loves.”

Robinson-Brown’s prosecution had led to the loss of friendships and a career opportunity with the RAF, she said. He felt genuine remorse, said Miss Weir.

Judge Nicholas Barker noted that the defendant, in his pre-sentence report interview, suggested he did nothing more than take part in perverted role play.

But the evidence – including the distressing videos of young children being raped - demonstrated a “significant sexual interest in very young children,” observed the judge.

Judge Barker remarked on how he had watched the face of a woman sitting in the court’s public gallery, whom he believed to be the defendant’s mother, as Mr Burke outlined the facts of the case.

The judge said: “[Her face] depicted, in my view, two strong emotions: one was disgust and the other was disbelief: disgust at what was being described and disbelief that you had done this – and that is an entirely understandable response because the material were involved with is simply disgusting and depraved.”

The judge noted the defendant had a background included substance abuse, debts and bereavement but he said an appropriate jail term would involve a four-and-a-half-month spell in custody but no meaningful rehabilitation.

Instead, he imposed a three-year community order, with 10 rehabilitation activity days, and a sexual offender treatment programme.

The defendant must complete 200 hours of unpaid work and he will be on the Sex Offender Register for five years.

The judge told the defendant: “You must address your sexual tendencies which you displayed by downloading these perverted images and communicating in that depraved way.”

Description

A PERVERTED Carlisle man has been jailed and put on the Sex Offender Register after he chatted online with a "child" about sex.

Ben Howat, 40, pleaded guilty to three offences at the city’s crown court, where a prosecutor said the defendant was caught in an online police sting during which he believed he was chatting to a 12-year-old girl.

It was actually an under-cover police officer.

Howat, of Thirwall Gardens, Carlisle, admitted downloading child abuse images, and attempting to communicate sexually with a “child” and attempting to make the same child watch sexual activity.

The court heard that he committed the sexual communication offence between April 12 of this year and April 27. He tried to make the child watch online sexual activity on April 13.

The images offence related to 10 Category C child abuse images, which the defendant downloaded on dates in December 2021.

Howat was jailed for 19 months.

The judge also put the defendant on the Sex Offender Register for 10 years and made a sexual harm prevention order which will restrict the defendant’s online behaviour for the same period.

Description

A NORTH Cumbrian man in his late thirties attempted to meet a 14-year-old boy so he could pay him £100 for sex, a court heard.

But Christopher Tennant, 38, who had spent two days communicating sexually with the person involved, was unaware that he was being taken in by a police sting operation designed to catch online sex predators.

At the city’s crown court, Tennant, of Gosling Drive, Carlisle, admitted attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to sexually communicate with a child, and attempting to cause a child to watch sexual activity.

Prosecutor Kim Whittlestone outlined the offending, committed in the city this year between October 17 and 19.

Tennant used social media to contact a person who clearly and repeatedly identified himself as being a 14-year-old boy.

During their online exchanges, conducted in part over the Grindr app, the 'boy' referred to having to wear his school uniform.

“It was repeatedly said during the conversations that the young man was 14,” said Miss Whittlestone. That continued to be Tennant’s belief up to the point when he travelled to a supermarket car park to meet the boy.

Miss Whittlestone went on to outline some of the conversations, though much of the detail is too offensive to repeat.

He sent the contact videos of two men having sex and told the 'boy' he was 21 before asking him for share pictures of himself.

In one message, he asked the boy: “What would you do for cash?”

There followed a series of messages about places they could possibly meet, including at a local Asda car park.

The “boy” at one point suggested meeting in a McDonald’s car park, while Tennant talked about possibly driving to the countryside. Tennant also suggested again that he could “pay you to try stuff.”

When he drove to the proposed meeting and realised he was being arrested, Tennant told the police officer: “I’m just so sorry. I know it was wrong. My head’s been messed up for years.”

The prosecutor added: “There was a significant degree of planning and a disparity in ages; he also brought with him £100 and there is clear evidence of grooming behaviour.”

Marion Weir, defending, said the defendant was a man of previous good character who had himself faced difficulties in his life. “He was trying to deal with it in an unhealthy way,” said the barriser.

Since his arrest, Tannant had worked with the Lucy Faithful Foundation to address his issues, though it would take years to work through the problems. “There is an expression of genuine remorse by Mr Tennant,” said Miss Weir.

There was nothing else incriminating found on his phone, she added.

Judge Michael Fanning said the defendant he had repeatedly engaged in “grooming” type behaviour, even offering to pay the “boy” £100 for sex.

“There is too much of this sort of offending and there are too many real victims,” said the judge.

He jailed Tennant for three years.

The defendant will be on the Sex Offender Register indefinitely and subject to a sexual harm prevention order for a decade.

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A CARLISLE man who sexually abused a schoolgirl more than 40 years ago when he was a teenager has finally faced justice – after he returned to the UK from his home in Russia.

During the abuse, Andrew Blenkinsopp, now 58, bullied his victim and threatened her, enforcing her silence by telling her she would not be believed if she spoke of what happened.

But with the encouragement of a relative, she did report Blenkinsopp, leading  him being charged.

On the day he was due to stand trial, the defendant - arrested at the airport when he returned from his home in Russia to renew his visa - admitted nine sexual assaults on the victim, including two said to be tantamount to rapes.

After the case concluded, Cumbria Police said it showed that it was never too late for victims to speak out and report such crimes. Officers also praised the courage of the victim.

Prosecutor Tim Evans outlined how Blenkinsopp was able to physically dominate the girl, pinning her down as he carried out the abuse. At the time, he aged between 14 and 16, the court heard.

“He would also threaten her, stating that if she told anyone, no one would believe her,” said the barrister.

In a statement, the victim said: “When it finally stopped, I was at secondary school and I was a bit more aware of sex education and what was going on and I really knew that it wasn’t right and he shouldn’t be doing it to me.

“It was just verbal threats all the time.”

Blenkinsopp, who previously lived in Etterby in Carlisle, repeatedly told the teenager nobody will believe her if she reported the abuse, suggesting she would face negative consequences.

Mr Evans said: “She talks in her victim personal statement of the terrible effect the abuse had upon her.”

Defence barrister Daniel Bramhall told the court that Blenkinsopp had a difficult upbringing. Having lived in Russia with his wife since 2011, he had addressed his drinking habit but was currently in poor health.

When released from jail, he hopes to return to Russia. References provided for the defendant painted a “different” picture and Blenkinsopp, in stark contrast to the person he was 40 years ago, the court heard.

The defendant had also said that he wished he could turn back the clock.

Passing sentence as the victim and her family watched from the court’s public gallery, Judge Michael Fanning said that Blenkinsopp’s abuse took away the victim’s childhood and her teenage years.

His crimes had “substantially reduced the quality of her life.”

Supported by her husband and family, the woman had suffered “real psychological harm, which had persisted over years,” said the judge. This included suicidal thoughts, an overwhelming of her ability to work, and the need for medication and counselling.

What happened left her feeling “dirty”.

The judge said he regarded the victims as having been “vulnerable” and she had been subjected to “bullying and force” and threats – all aggravating factors.

But the judge explained that he was obliged by law to reduce the length of sentence to reflect that fact that Blenkinsopp was a youth when he offended.

He jailed Blenkinsopp for three years and seven months. He also placed him on the Sex Offender Register indefinitely. The judge declined to rule that Blenkinsopp is a dangerous offender.

He did however make an indefinite restraining order, banning the defendant from having any contact with his victim.

After passing that sentence, Judge Fanning turned to the victim in the pubic gallery and addressed her directly, describing the exercise as a “horrible mechanistic process” and complicated.

He said he needed to “get it right” so that a line could be drawn under what happened. “All I can hope is that things get better now that his abuse has been recognised.” The woman thanked the judge, who offered his best wishes to her and her family.

After the hearing, Detective Constable Gabrielle Nicholson, who oversaw the case, said: “I hope that this case sends a clear message to perpetrators that no matter how much time has passed, sexual abuse will not be tolerated by Cumbria Constabulary.

“We will do everything within our power to hold people who commit these crime accountable for their actions.

“No matter how much time has passed, support is available in Cumbria for victims of sexual offences.

“The Constabulary works closely with trusted partner agencies to provide the appropriate support which is tailored to an individual’s circumstances.

“I would encourage anyone who has been victim to a sexual offence to contact police.

“Taking that first step to telling somebody what has happened to you is often the most difficult.

“But please know that if you do, you will be provided with information which will enable you to make choices on how you wish to move forward.

“I would also like to pay tribute to the bravery and courage of the victim for coming forward and reporting this.”

Description

A REGISTERED sex offender is back behind bars for sending text messages to a 15-year-old girl and unlawful possession of an iPad Mini.

Darrel Stephen Carter, 31, was issued with a sexual risk order (SRO) in 2020 at the request of police seeking to curb potential offending against young females.

The indefinite SRO bans Carter from contacting any girls aged under 18; and places tough restrictions on his access to electronic devices.

Carter had been identified by police as posing a potential risk to vulnerable females.

But being subject to the order has not kept him out of trouble.

For previous breaches he has been made subject to a suspended prison sentence and he was later jailed for again failing to stick by the SRO terms.

It was following his release from custody on licence, halfway through a 23-month sentence, that he broke the law once more during the course of several weeks, Carlisle Crown Court heard, by contacting the teen.

“He was in contact with her on a number of occasions using different social network applications and online platforms, such as Facebook and Facebook Messenger,” said Gerard Rogerson, prosecuting.

“Mr Carter, it is suggested, was fully aware of her age, being 15, and also that she was unaware of his past, namely as a registered sex offender and being subject to the order.”

One message sent by Carter — who befriended the girl after sending a Facebook friend request and instigated contact with her — read: “Come on, you are 15.

“There is nothing inappropriate or sexually suggestive within the messages,” Mr Rogerson told the court.

It was when Carter was recalled to prison that a phone was seized and the messages came to light.

Carter also committed a second breach through his possession of an iPad Mini device — capable of accessing the internet — which was not declared to police as it should have been. This had been used to access Facebook, Snapchat and TikTok.

“He admitted keeping the device hidden and using it,” said the prosecutor. “He commented ‘I don’t know why I’ve done it’.”

Carter, of Oakleigh Way, Carlisle, pleaded guilty to two breaches.

Defence lawyer Andrew Evans highlighted the fact that Carter had made full admissions when quizzed by police.

Mr Evans said in an address to Judge Nicholas Barker: “In a letter to Your Honour he has stated he is motivated to seek change.”

The judge noted that only an immediate prison sentence should be imposed in the case. Mr Evans asked that detailed background reports prepared by a probation officer and psychiatrist should accompany Carter to prison in the hope that professional help could be offered.

“That is the only route to breaking the cycle,” said Mr Evans. “What he needs is assistance, wherever he is.”

Judge Barker jailed Carter for 20 months. “You would have known, particularly having been released from a 23-month sentence that those who supervised you would have been concerned by your contact with such a young female,” said the judge, “that it was in breach of your order and that it would — had it been discovered — led to your arrest and potential imprisonment.

“Therefore there is, in my judgement, by you, an interest in taking what can be described as deliberate risk taking behaviour.”

Judge Barker accepted struggles in Carter’s early life and a comment by him in relation to SRO compliance that “I don’t think it is clicking in my head”.

But he told the defendant: “If you are intent, as you suggest, on addressing your offending behaviour you will need to expand on the reasons why you commit these offences. Without that you will carry on doing them.

“If that is the case you will spend longer and longer in prison.”

Description

A 74-year-old man has been jailed for following a child into toilets and sexually assaulting him.

Michael Lamb, from Levens Drive in Carlisle, was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court on Thursday 31 August.

Following the incident he was arrested and admitted the charge of sexual activity with a child. He was sentenced to 40 months in prison and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

The court heard that a 13-year-old boy had gone into the toilets in Market Hall, in Carlisle on 1 February 2023, where Michael Lamb followed him.

The boy went into a cubicle but Lamb followed him inside and put his hand over the childs mouth, telling him dont say anything or Ill hurt you. Michael Lamb put his foot against the cubicle door and sexually assaulted the boy.

At first he denied what had happened and claimed he was sexually assaulted by the child.

Lamb later admitted the offence at court.

Detective Constable Lee Clark said: This was a horrific attack on a young boy who was threatened and had no means of escaping the situation Lamb put him in.

Lamb initially refused to take any responsibility for his actions. However, the investigation showed unequivocally that Lamb had attacked the young boy, resulting in a guilty plea at court.

Support is available in Cumbria for victims of sexual offences. The constabulary works closely with trusted partner agencies to provide the appropriate support which is tailored to an individuals circumstances.

I would encourage anyone who has been victim to a sexual offence to contact police so that our officers can investigate. You will be supported throughout our investigation.

Description

A MAN committed lewd sex acts under his clothing in front of three distressed teenage school girls in Carlisle during a spate of perverted offending while on bail.

Samuel Ramos, 27, was first witnessed by a care worker in a city building on February 20 to be exposing himself through the window of a nearby upper-storey property.

“She was particularly concerned,” prosecutor Brendan Burke told Carlisle Crown Court, “that during the course of that he appeared to be fixing his attention looking up the street towards a primary school.”

 
It had been half-term that week, and no children were reported to be in the area.

But Ramos was caught as he committed further similar offending inside Carlisle’s Primark store on two different dates. On February 28 he was spotted by a shocked 15-year-old girl who was with a friend after both had been followed around by Ramos.

In an impact statement the girl said she was on the shopping trip to regain independence after suffering difficulties, but told how the incident in the shop had “really set her back”.

On March 2, Ramos was back in Primark and seen on CCTV engaging in similarly lewd conduct near obvious other shoppers by a security guard monitoring footage.

And a week later there was a further incident on a Carlisle street with Ramos carrying out a copycat crime in front of two 13-year-old girls walking to school. “They ran into the school in an immediately distressed state and crying, and reported the matter,” said Mr Burke.

Ramos had been arrested after the first incident, and committed the next three offences while on police bail. He admitted one charge of exposure and three of committing acts outraging public decency.

Anthony Parkinson, giving mitigation, said Ramos had served the equivalent of a six-month prison sentence on remand. He had completed a raft of courses in custody but none of these were aimed at reducing the risk of further sexual offending.

If sent to prison and released on post-sentence supervision, any work done with him would not come close to that being proposed by the probation service if he was allowed to return to the community.

Intense rehabilitation work would best serve Ramos and the public in general, suggested Mr Parkinson. He added: “It is clear he acts on impulse. It is clear he was unable to resist the impulse on these four occasions. This is a case that is crying out for rehabilitation-based work with him so that the next time these impulses arrive he has a better and lawful way of dealing with them.”

The judge, Recorder Mark Ainsworth, said he was presented with a “very difficult” decision. But in view of Ramos’s “very concerning” conduct he concluded that appropriate punishment could only be achieved with an immediate 18-month jail term.

Ramos, of London Road, Carlisle, was made subject to the sex offender notification requirements and strict terms of a prevention order, both for 10 years.

Speaking after the sentencing hearing, PC Rebecca Lynch, of Cumbria police, said: “We take all reports of sexual offences seriously and work hard to do our best for all victims of such crimes.

 “I hope that this case encourages victims of such crimes to report incidents such as these to the police. Victims will receive support from sensitive professionals.”

Description

A MAN travelling on a bus from Carlisle city centre left fellow passengers shocked as they saw him expose his genitals and touch himself sexually.

Police identified the culprit after two women reported what they had seen and police examined the bus’s CCTV footage, which allowed them to identify the offender, 43-year-old Carlisle man Scott Barton.

At Carlisle Crown Court, he was sentenced after earlier pleading guilty to an allegation of outraging public decency.

The court heard that two young women boarded the bus in the city centre and, a few stops later, Barton arrived, taking the seat immediately behind them.

One of the women later reported that she noticed Barton touching himself in the groin area, at that stage on top of his clothing. She looked away, but when she glanced in his direction a short time later he was she realised he had removed his genitals from his shorts and appeared sexually aroused.

He was continuing to touch himself, the court heard.

Shocked by this, the two women immediately moved seats, doing their best to ignore him. As they left the bus a short time later, they alerted the bus driver to what they had seen before running home and calling the police.

Judith McCullough, for Barton, of McIlmoyle Way, Denton Holme, said he accepted that his behaviour that day was unacceptable but he denied that he was performing a sex act. His shame and regret for what happened were genuine.

The barrister said: “He has cut down his alcohol intake and no longer misuses drugs.”

At work, said Miss McCullough, Barton was a valued member of his team. The barrister added: “This offence was out of character, an isolated incident.”

Judge David Potter noted that Barton had been medicating his ADHD by regularly using alcohol but what he did on the bus had “clearly caused alarm and distress” to the two females who saw him.

He did what he did in broad daylight, on public transport. “Clearly, it outraged public decency; and it is therefore, in my judgement, serious enough to warrant a community penalty,” said the judge.

Judge Potter imposed a three-year community order, with 20 rehabilitation activity days, a 100-day tagged alcohol abstinence monitoring order, and a requirement to complete an accredited sex offender treatment programme.

Description

A man who worked with children while secretly distributing illegal images of children has been jailed for two years.

Oliver Owen had about 6,000 still and moving images of children, including 1,081 of the most serious type, on his phone, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

The 25-year-old also advised others how to abuse children and described sick plans to open an orphanage to sell time with children to the highest bidder.

Owen, who worked as a child activity leader, admitted various offences.

When police went to his home in Carlisle in October 2020, Owen told them: "Yes, I think I have totally ruined my life and all I have worked for."

The images found on his mobile phone had been created during an 18-month period using three separate applications, prosecutor Tim Evans told the court.

Videos had been traded about which Owen had made a number of sick comments, Mr Evans said.

Mr Evans told the court Owen had also been engaged in group chat where child abuse was discussed and had "volunteered suggestions" about how this could be done; including a website targeting struggling mothers and "opening a orphanage where they could sell time with kids to the highest bidder".

Described as a man of previous good character, Owen admitted the distribution of illegal images, including category A, and making indecent photographs of children.

In mitigation, Judith McCullough said Owen, of Bowman Street, was "truly ashamed of himself and was "genuinely seeking to understand and deal with his issues".

She said: "The defendant says he didn't know how to escape and he was pleased, effectively, to be caught."

Judge Ian Unsworth QC said on Friday Owen's offending would be "truly shocking" to his family and friends.

He told Owen: "You descended into the very depths of depravity.

"This is a truly serious case of its type."

Owen must sign the sex offenders' register and comply with the strict terms of a prevention order for 10 years.

Description

A NORTH Cumbria man who raped three women one as she slept has been jailed for 15 years and deemed a 'dangerous offender'. Details of 23-year-old James Routledges crimes, and the profound impact and psychological harm on his victims, were outlined at Carlisle Crown Court today (Friday). One woman raped by Routledge talked about focusing on a mark on the ceiling as he carried out his offending. She later recalled him giving her a hug and kiss afterwards, saying he was sorry, said prosecutor Tim Evans. The woman also told of her guilt at not initially reporting what had happened. I just pushed it to one side, to a place where I could forget about it, she had said. The woman later told of reliving the ordeal being like a 'mini-flashback'. It is so clear, she stated, it feels like it is happening all over again. A second woman had twice tried to repel Routledges unwanted sexual advances before she was raped. This time she shouted and screamed at him, and told him what he had done was raping her, said Mr Evans. She was crying. That woman later spoke of feeling unable to trust anyone. It wasnt my fault, she said. But try telling me that on a bad day. A third woman woke to find she had been raped by Routledge. She later made recordings of conversations with Routledge which involved admissions being made by him. He carried out this crime having been released under investigation by police who had interviewed him about offending against one of the other two women. Mr Evans told the court drink and drugs had featured in Routledges conduct. Routledge admitted raping the three women. It was accepted the rapes were carried out 'without violence'. In mitigation, defence barrister Judith McCullough suggested 'immaturity', to some extent, had fed into his offending. There is the possibility that the term of imprisonment will be a lesson learned for this defendant as he grows up and moves further into adulthood, she said. Routledge, of Wellgate, Scotby, was given a 15-year prison sentence by Judge Richard Archer, who said: To rape one woman is serious indeed. But to rape three women is serious in the extreme. Judge Archer imposed an extended three-year licence period, concluding Routledge was a dangerous offender who posed a significant risk of committing further rape crimes. Routledge must serve two-thirds of the 15-year prison term before being consider for release by a parole board, and sign the sex offenders register indefinitely.