Latest Offenders Cumbria

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A REGISTERED sex offender has appeared in court accused of installing a private web browser and deleting the internet history from a device.

Christopher Topliss, 35, faces four charges of breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and one charge of failing to comply with notification requirements of the Sex Offenders’ Register.

Topliss is accused of installing a private browser on three occasions between February and March 2022 and deleting the internet history from a device in his possession by installing and uninstalling numerous applications and their contents on or before June 15, 2023.

It is also alleged that he failed to declare numerous aliases to police within three days, which he is required to do as a registered sex offender.

Topliss, of Ennerdale Road, Cleator Moor, did not enter any pleas when he appeared at Workington Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

The case was sent to Carlisle Crown Court for a plea and case management hearing on August 25.

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A WEST Cumbrian pensioner has admitted possessing illegal extreme pornography and prohibited 'cartoon' images of children being sexually abused.

Cockermouth man Ian Willis, 74, admitted the two offences during a hearing at Carlisle Crown Court, though he denied a third charge of downloading an indecent child image. The prosecution accepted that denial.

Outlining the two admitted offences, prosecutor Sarah Griffin said they were committed between July 1, 2020 and December 20 of that year. Police found the illegal images after seizing and analysing the defendant’s Samsung phone.

“There were 407 extreme pornographic images and seven prohibited images of children, which are described as being cartoon type images,” said Ms Griffin.

The barrister went on to outline the kind of images that police found. The extreme images depicted adults involved in sexual activity with animals and two of those were moving images, the court heard.

The prohibited child images were cartoons depicting sexual activity between adults and children, including children as young as eight. Marion Weir, defending, handed two character references to the court.

Ms Griffin said the defendant accepted the phone containing the illegal images was his but he denied searching for indecent child images. “He claimed that they must have been there by accident,” said the barrister.

The defendant did, however, accept searching for extreme pornographic images but claimed he did not know this was illegal.

“He said he was driven by curiosity and that he did not have an exciting life,” added the barrister.

Judge Richard Archer told Willis: “You are 74 and you have no previous convictions, and these offences are now of some age. They represent behaviour and offending committed up to and during the pandemic period of 2020, when life changed markedly for many people.

“That does not give you an excuse for behaving as you did because many people were able to bide their time as responsible adults without resorting to criminality.”

But the defendant’s blameworthiness was 'relatively low', said the judge, concluding that a custodial sentence was not necessary. Nor did the judge think it necessary to put the pensioner on the Sex Offender Register or impose a sexual harm prevention order.

Willis, of St Leonard’s Close, Cockermouth, was given an 18-month community order which includes 20 rehabilitation activity days.

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A REGISTERED sex offender failed to turn up to court to be sentenced for attempting to engage in a sexual activity with a child. 

Phillip Allen, from Ross-on-Wye, was due to be sentenced at Worcester Crown Court on June after being convicted at Hereford Magistrates Court on April 12. 

A bench warrant has been issued, which is not backed for bail.

Allen has connections with Cumbria, and police believe he has been in the Carlisle area within the last few days. 

Anyone who sees Allen or knows of his whereabouts is asked to call 999 immediately.

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A FORTY-year-old man from Carlisle has been jailed for an assault on a schoolgirl which involved him grabbing her by the throat.

The teenage victim was so upset by the violence of Jacek Kuliga that she suffered nightmares and her trust in adults was destroyed, the city’s crown court heard. The defendant had denied wrongdoing.

But he was convicted after a trial. The court heard that he denied a second offence of voyeurism but was found guilty of that also. This involved the use of a hidden camera with a motion sensor.

The camera captured "intimate" images of a woman.

The court heard that the actual bodily harm assault happened on January 25, 2021, and it was the first time Kuliga had ever been in trouble with the police. The background was an argument between the defendant and the girl.

The defendant then began a “prolonged attack” on the teenager, during which he grabbed her by the throat with sufficient force to cause bruising. She had eventually managed to get away.

“She must have been terrified,” observed Recorder Tony Hawks.

The judge commented on the negative effect of the offending on the two victims – the girl, and a woman who was the victim of the defendant’s voyeurism. The woman had developed mental health problems.

The girl who was assaulted had also suffered significantly. “Since this offence, she has suffered nightmares,” said the judge. The girl also felt uncomfortable going out and had been unable to sleep.

Her schooling was also impacted.

In an earlier hearing, another judge said of the voyeurism offence that such behaviour represented a “total and utter objectification” of women. Recorder Samantha Presland said it was exasperating that people have access to “amazing technology” but then used it for such “base things.”

Recorder Hawks jailed the defendant, of Broadoaks Grange, Carlisle, for a total of three and a half years. Kuliga will be on the Sex Offender Register for seven years as a result of the voyeurism offence.

Defence lawyer Jeff Smith told the court that Kuliga had been in the UK for eight years and that he wanted to return to work but background reports made it clear that he continues to deny the two offences.

He claimed he was assaulted - a version of events rejected by the jury. 

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A WHITEHAVEN man serving a community sentence for possessing child abuse images committed a similar offence within a year.

But for unexplained reasons it took police two years to charge 34-year-old Liam Rothery, who this week entered a guilty plea the downloading 23 indecent child images of Category C.

These are considered the least serious category of child abuse imagery. At Carlisle Crown Court, prosecutor Gerard Rogerson outlined the facts.

He said the Rothery, of Ceda Park, Whitehaven, was sentenced for his previous offending in August 2020, with his three-year community order including rehabilitation and a sex offender treatment programme.

But in April 2021, police made an unannounced visit to his home because of suspicions over the delivery of 'equipment' to his address.

Though there was no issue with that equipment, police did ask Rothery to hand over his Apple iPhone while they were at his home so they could check it.

On the device they found a bookmark that linked to a website which was being used by people wishing to share illegal child images.

“It appeared to be Eastern European or Russian in origin,” said Mr Rogerson.

A forensic examination of the phone revealed that the defendant had downloaded 23 child abuse images. When interviewed, Rothery gave no comment replies to the questions put to him by the police.

Mr Rogerson added that the police found evidence on the phone that Rothery had made 'deliberate or systematic searches' for images of young children and that he had saved some of those illegal images.

Judge Nicholas Barker said that if the case had been dealt with in a timely manner the sentencing judge may have concluded that Rothery was not minded to change his ways and dealt with him accordingly.

“For a reason I am struggling to understand the police did not charge you for this offence until two years later,” the judge told the defendant.

But in the last two years, said the judge, the sex offender treatment programme that Rother had now completed and his work with the Probation Service had rehabilitated him.

His pre-sentence report was positive and there had been no repeat offending, observed the judge. In view of this, Judge Barker imposed an 18-month community order, with 20 rehabilitation activity days and an eight week 6pm to 6am curfew.

Rothery will be on the Sex Offender Register for five years.

Description

A man has been jailed for 12 years for multiple offences including rape and sexual assault.

John Crawford, 35, of St Vincent Street, Barrow, was sentenced at Preston Crown Court for:

• Rape of a female
• Sexual assault by penetration on a female
• Committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence
• Sexual assault
• Common assault

The offences relate to incidents against two women which occurred between February 2015 and February 2020.

Crawford will serve a minimum of two thirds of his sentence before being eligible for release on licence. He is considered a dangerous offender and will be subject to the sex offenders register for life.

Investigating officer Sergeant Kerry-Anne Travis said: “I would like to thank the two victims for their bravery in reporting these offences.

“Sexual violence can have a devastating impact on victims and their families.  We would encourage any person who may have experienced such incidents to report the matter to police. We have specially trained officers to investigate and support you throughout.

“I would like to give special thanks to the Bridgeway Sexual Assault Referral Clinic (SARC). They provide an invaluable service to victims of sexual offences who may not wish to report sexual offences directly to police. Victims can self-refer to the SARC and will be supported by a specialist team.”

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A REPEAT sex offender from Kendal downloaded dozens of sickening child abuse images, including ones featuring victims as young as three.

Kendal man Robert Lewthwaite, 29, who committed the offences despite having the benefit of professional help through the Probation Service, was jailed after a judge ruled that he poses a continuing risk to children.

He admitted breaching a sexual harm prevention order and downloading almost 300 indecent images of children, including 58 which were classified as Category A, the most serious kind of abuse images.

At Carlisle Crown Court, Judge Nicholas Barker told the defendant: These are not victimless crimes: these images depict real children, as young as three or four and five or six, who were subjected to the most horrendous, gratuitous sexual abuse.

The demand for such images by people like Lewthwaite supported the activities of the abusers who created those images.

Prosecutor Brendan Burke said the background was that Lewthwaite was given a seven-year sexual harm prevention order in February 2019, which was designed to curb his internet use and prevent reoffending.

It was part of his sentence for similar offending, when he downloaded hundreds of child abuse images, the court heard. Lewthwaite was specifically warned not to use cloud storage facilities, said Mr Burke.

But on January 14 police visited the defendant and discovered that he had done this, accessing three cloud storage sites. There was evidence that he had deleted content from his internet history and devices.

Police eventually recovered the images he had been viewing: 58 of Category A, 96 of Category B, and 128 of Category C.

Jeff Smith, defending, said the defendant, of Low Kirkbarrow Lane, Kendal, suffered autism and consequently was isolated and struggled to make relationships. He is isolated from the vast majority of his family, other than his grandfather, said Mr Smith.

He clings desperately to those who are close to him. Lewthwaite needed professional support to turn his life around, said the lawyer. The defendant recognised his failings and did not want to minimise them.

The lawyer said that group therapy would help Lewthwaite, who did not want to sink yet again to the depths of depravity.

Jailing Lewthwaite for 18 months, Judge Barker concluded that the defendant had returned to his former offending behaviour, which probation staff had described as being a highly established pattern of offending.

While accepting that Lewthwaite suffered difficulties linked to his autism, the judge said there was a pattern of offending, and he was not satisfied that at present there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.

Lewthwaite will be on the Sex Offender Register for a decade and his sexual harm prevention order will last for the same period.

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The perverted behaviour of 27-year-old Windermere man Callum Spedding came to light after he was taken in by a police sting which involved an undercover officer posing online as a 13-year-old girl.

When police seized the defendant’s digital devices, they discovered that he was also sexually grooming a 13-year-old boy, though the victim was never properly identified.

Spedding, of Mill Brow, Droomer, Windemere, admitted six offences – one count of making an indecent image of a child, two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual behaviour; and three counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

At Carlisle Crown Court, prosecutor Tim Evans outlined the offences, which were all committed on dates in March, 2020.

The first set of offences related to the police sting, when Spedding began communicating online with a person who repeatedly identified herself as a 13-year-old girl.

During a series of online exchanges over several days, the defendant offered to buy her sweets and other treats – clothing, jewellery, and a phone; and he spoke to her about taking her to McDonald’s.

“It’d be cool to take you out and spoil you,” he told the ‘girl.’ As the contact continued, Spedding’s conversation became increasingly sexual, said Mr Evans. He spoke of wanting to meet her and described explicitly the sexual contact he wanted with her.

The court heard that the defendant encouraged the girl to “practice” certain sex acts in preparation for a potential meeting.

It was after police raided the defendant’s home and arrested him on April 1, 2020, that officers examined his digital devices, they found incriminating evidence that Spedding had also been grooming a boy.

Once again, the communication amounted to sexual grooming, with Spedding discussing sexual matters, including his desire to sexually abuse the child in graphic detail.

Jack Troupe, defending, said the defendant had struggled to come to terms with the offences he had committed. He was also struggling with mental health difficulties, said the barrister.

But with three years having elapsed since the offending, there had been no repeat of the illegal behaviour, added Mr Troupe.

Judge Nicholas Barker told Spedding that it was clear that he had genuinely believed he was communicating with children who were aged just 13. On March 20, 2020, he had clearly stepped up his attempt to sexually groom the girl, offering to buy her gifts.

He told the child he wanted to see her in swimwear.

In the days that followed, the communication became increasingly sexualised, with Spedding asking the “child” to send him indecent photos of herself.

The judge noted that Spedding had been “socially isolated” but he rejected the defendant's claim that his offending was triggered by the pandemic lockdown, given that the illegal behaviour began before the national lockdown.

The judge said: “You were socially isolated and you were suffering mental health conditions and continue to do so.” But a Probation officer had assessed Spedding as posing a “direct risk” to children, given the extent of his efforts to have sexual contact with the two 13-year-olds.

He jailed the defendant for 31 months and put him on the Sex Offender Register indefinitely. Spedding will also be subject to a sexual harm prevention order indefinitely.

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A 23-year-old man has admitted making and distributing indecent images of children.

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CHILDREN as young as six featured in thousands of sickening child abuse images which were downloaded by a Carlisle man.

But the jail term handed to 46-year-old Richard Nobes for his crimes was suspended after a judge accepted that he is a principal carer for his elderly father and that there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.

The defendant, of Sheffield Street, Carlisle, admitted four offences.

They were: downloading 1,359 indecent child images classified as Category A, the most serious kind of such image; downloading 674 Category B images; and downloading 4,291 Category C images.

He committed the offences between November 7, 2020, and May 6, 2021. Nobes also admitted possessing prohibited images of children on June 17. He denied a fifth allegation of possessing extreme pornography.

The prosecution accepted that plea.

Prosecutor Brendan Burke said the crimes came to light on June 17 when police, acting on intelligence received, visited the Carlisle home where Nobes was living at the time and carried out a search.

As police arrived, Nobes appeared to know why they were there but he told the officers: “That was years ago.”

Mr Burke said: “In fact, the images were created between April, 2019 and May of 2021."

All of the images recovered by the police were inaccessible to the defendant at the time of his arrest because he had deleted them, said Mr Burke. Nobes had been using a social media website that is popular with young people.

Judge Andrew Jefferies KC said there were two features of the defendant’s offending which were particularly serious. One was the sheer volume of indecent child images, which featured still and moving images, some as young as six.

The second aggravating feature was the charge involving distribution of some of the images involved. Judge Jefferies imposed an eight-month jail sentence but suspended it for two years.

He did this, he said, for three reasons: the defendant’s remorse, his prospects for rehabilitation, and the fact that he is the principal carer for his father, a fact supported by medical evidence.

The suspended sentence includes 40 rehabilitation activity days, designed to address the defendant’s “interest in children”. Nobes will be on the Sex Offender Register for a decade.

A sexual harm prevention order, governing his use of the internet, will be in place for the same period. Judge Jefferies told Nobes: “I would have sentenced you to [immediate] eight months prison but two things stopped me.

“One, the probation officer thinks you can be worked with to control any sexual interest you may have in children and the rehabilitative possibilities; and two, the material I have seen and extracts relating to the ill-health of your father and the fact that you are effectively his main carer.

“If I did put you in prison today, for a relatively short period, it would have a disproportionate effect on your father, who has done nothing wrong.”

The defendant, said to have been living under certain unspecified 'stresses' when he committed the offences, formerly lived at an address in Lightfoot Drive, Harraby, Carlisle. Nobes had no previous convictions.

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A WEST Cumbrian man who secretly downloaded hundreds of child abuse images was told his offending warrants a jail sentence.

But a Carlisle Crown Court judge drew back from that option for 30-year-old Steven Hannay after being told that he was 'brutally frank' about his sexual interests when he was interviewed by a probation officers.

The defendant, now living in Workington but formerly of Cockermouth, admitted downloading more than 300 illegal images: 73 Category A pictures (the most serious kind); 46 Category B images, and 216 Category C images.

Police discovered the offending when, acting on intelligence received, they visited the defendant’s then home in Cockermouth. They found the illegal images on devices owned by Hannay.

A further two Category C images were also found.

Judge Andrew Jefferies said offending such as that committed by the defendant 'screamed out' for a prison sentence.

But his frankness suggested that he could be worked with to 'control his paedophilic interests.'

Though the offences deserved jail, a three year community order would allow the defendant to undergo 'intensive' rehabilitation work which would ultimately better protect the public, said the judge.

Judge Jefferies told the defendant, whose address was given as Devonshire Street, Workington: “Without doubt, your interest in this material means you should be in prison.

“That’s a given. But my duty is not just punishment for offending; it’s protection of the public going forward.

“Though some people may think you have made your position worse by your frankness with the author of the pre-sentence report, I think the opposite.”

A three-year community order focused on rehabilitation would not be a soft sentence, warned the judge.

Judge Jefferies imposed that order, specifying that it will include 15 rehabilitation activity days and 'accredited programme' of work to address the defendant’s interest in children. The sentence will also include a 120 day tagged alcohol monitoring requirement.

Hannay will have to be on the Sex Offender Register for the next five years and a sexual harm prevention order, controlling his use of the internet, will be in place for the same period, said the judge.

Ultimately, said the judge, people who commit such crimes either accept the available professional help that will stop them reoffending, or they have to be locked up.

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A WEST Cumbrian man who was convicted of raping a schoolgirl when he was a 16-year-old has been jailed.

Josh Atkinson, who is now 22, had pleaded not guilty to the offence but he was convicted by a jury after a trial at Carlisle Crown Court. Prosecutor Tim Evans outlined how the defendant committed the offence in 2017.

The girl was of primary school age at the time. “She told him no and tried to push him away but he was older and stronger than she was,” said Mr Evans. The girl’s ordeal lasted for about 15 minutes in total.

It was at a later stage, when the girl was having a sex education lesson at school, that she became upset and realised the enormity of what had happened and disclosed it to her mother, said Mr Evans.

The barrister went on to outline the impact of the rape on both the girl and her mother, who said it had been hard watching her daughter “go into herself and struggle with her emotions”, becoming upset and angry.

Speaking of the victim, Mr Evans said: “Being raped made her feel more insecure about herself; it plays on her mind. She can’t trust boys and she is scared of all matters sexual.”

The girl had also isolated herself and did not leave her home for a long time.

She also self-harmed on a couple of occasions, said Mr Evans.

The barrister explained that because the defendant, of Cockfield Drive, Workington, was 16 when he committed the offence, just a few months away from his 17th birthday, he would have to be sentenced as though he were still a youth.

Peter Wilson, defending, said maturity issues which affected the defendant’s consequential thinking and impulsivity were factors in the offending.  There were also other issues which arose from his childhood.

“There was significant instability in his young life,” said Mr Wilson.

The defendant had suffered violence in his family home and this led to illicit substances being used there. “He describes his father as a career criminal who has his own drug dependency issues,” said Mr Wilson.

As a result of childhood trauma, Atkinson had suffered depressive symptoms from the age of 12 and had experienced suicidal thoughts throughout his life. But he was now taking medication and using his time in prison positively.

Judge Guy Mathieson said the defendant, who still denies his offence, was convicted by the jury on “compelling evidence.”

He jailed Atkinson for four years  - half the sentence he would have been given had he been an adult when he committed the offence.

The defendant will be on the Sex Offender Register for life and subject to a sexual harm prevention order for five years. A restraining order forbids any contact with his victim for the same period.  

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A PERVERTED west Cumbrian man who fled the country after trying to rape a sleeping woman has been given a nine year jail term.

The dock of Carlisle Crown Court was empty as Judge David Potter passed sentence on 38-year-old fugitive Alan Adam, who had denied sexually assaulting the victim and attempting to rape her.

Still on the run, the defendant, formerly of Harrington Road, Workington, failed to turn up for his own trial last week and was convicted in his absence.

The jury heard that the victim reluctantly agreed to have a drink with Adam, during which he plied her with drinks.

She recalled suddenly feeling unwell, something which made her suspect that her drink had been spiked, though there was no medical evidence of that. The woman had made it abundantly clear that she had no sexual interest in Adam.

She had retired to a bedroom to sleep – and then to her horror awoke to find that Adam was sexually assaulting her.

As he summed up the case, Judge David Potter said: “She wasn’t used to drinking that quantity, but none of that was her fault.  I am sure that the defendant took full advantage of the obvious incapacity her condition presented.”

The woman had fallen asleep on a bed, and it was as she slept there that she was woken by Adam as he first assaulted her and then tried to rape her.

“She immediately protested... and told him no,” continued the judge.

Despite this, said Judge Potter, Adam forcefully pushed the woman on to the bed and made a “concerted effort” to rape her, his attempt frustrated only by the woman’s determined physical resistance.

Adam later told police that the sexual contact was consensual.

But a medical examination of the woman revealed she had suffered intimate injuries which supported her account of what happened, and showed that Adam had indeed used force as he tried to rape the woman. Prosecutor Robert Smith then read a detailed victim impact statement from the woman.

“When I think of what happened, I find myself having flashbacks to the moment in time when I was taken advantage of,” she wrote.

“I continue to have nightmares, crying. I am a broken person because of that man; I can’t even say his name and never will. He has broken me and I don’t think I will ever trust a man again. This will cause me issues for the rest of my life.

“He took advantage of me while I was asleep and intoxicated; he tried to rape me and that will live with me forever.”

She said she was no longer able to leave her home without fear and she doubted whether she could ever be truly happy again. She said she was pleased that the jury had returned guilty verdicts on Adam.

She hoped that he will eventually face justice should he return to the UK. But the legacy of his crime continued, she suggested, given that she had been humiliated and hurt but she now hopes to rebuild her life.

Judge Potter noted that the woman had been 'particularly vulnerable', and while he rejected the notion that her drink was spiked, the defendant had encouraged her to drink in the hope that she would be incapacitated.

He jailed Adam for nine years, pointing out that when he does serve that term he will not be eligible for released until he has served at least two thirds of the full term. The defendant will be on the Sex Offender Register for life.

Adam’s current whereabouts are unknown, but police have confirmed that he boarded a ferry for France in July of last year.

It took the jury just 90 minutes to convict him of the two allegations he faced. 

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A predator who told a woman he met online to sexually assault two young children has his sentence increased by more than two years.

Alan Nicholson, from High Harrington, Cumbria, had his case referred to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.

In September 2021, Alan Nicholson (53) spoke to a woman online, called Louise, who he believed had two daughters, aged five years-old and a baby of four-months.

Their conversations revolved around serious acts of sexual abuse that Nicholson intended to carry out on Louise’s children.

However, Louise was an undercover police officer supporting Cumbria Constabulary’s Cyber and Digital Crime Unit.

Nicholson was found guilty on two counts of attempting to arrange/facilitate the commission of a child sex offence and received a three-year prison sentence.

He was also placed on the Sex Offender’s Register and given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years.

Following the sentencing at the Crown Court at Carlisle on 16 December 2022, the case was referred to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.

Nicholson’s original sentence was found to be unduly lenient by the Court of Appeal on 9 March 2023 and was increased to 5 years 9 months.

Speaking after the hearing, the Solicitor General Michael Tomlinson KC MP, said:

Alan Nicholson believed he was successfully arranging to carry out vile acts on very young children. Thankfully the person he was talking to was an undercover police officer, whose diligent and commendable work led to his imprisonment.

I would like to praise all of those involved for catching Alan Nicholson and helping prevent anyone else come to harm. A longer prison sentence for this despicable crime shows such behaviour cannot and will not be tolerated.

Detective Sergeant James Bailey of Cumbria Constabulary’s Cyber and Digital Crime Unit said:

We welcome the increased sentence given out to Nicholson.

Our specialist officers work hard behind-the-scenes all-year-round to deter offending, catch criminals and safeguard victims.

We will not tolerate those carrying out such crimes and will continue to do what we can to target those offending in this way and bring them to justice.

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A FORMER soldier who volunteered to support the Ukraine war effort has been prosecuted after police discovered he had a collection of extreme pornography and indecent cartoons of children.

Michael Lee, 27, who was one of the first former British servicemen to volunteer to fight in the war, has been put on the Sex Offender Register after he pleaded guilty to several indecent image offences.

All involved cartoons, Carlisle Crown Court was told.

Prosecutor Brendan Burke said that the offences - which were committed over a six year period - came to light when police searched the defendant’s address in Workington and seized two digital devices.

Both contained illegal indecent child images. Lee, whose address is now Westminster Street, Gateshead, admitted the following offences:

• Possessing 317 extreme pornographic images, involving bestiality.
• Downloading indecent child images – all of them cartoons, including 12 which were the worst Category, A; 7 which were Category B; and 32 which were Category C.
• And possessing a prohibited image of a child.

Kim Whittlestone, defending, handed the court a character reference from the Ukrainian platoon commander who served with Lee.

One of the first foreigners to volunteer for the war effort, Lee had uses his own military experience to help train other recruits to “Nato standard” and had taken part in operations. He was well-liked by his comrades.

“He’s been an industrious young man," said Miss Whittlestone.

“This defendant had a very difficult upbringing. He had alcoholic parents and there was [Social Services] intervention.” Lee had begun consuming alcohol when he was 13. Drinking heavily, he had described himself as a “functioning alcoholic.”

The barrister said: “Since July of last year, he’s been totally alcohol free. He volunteered in Ukraine and, in essence, says that saved him.”

Volunteering had given him focus, helping him to stop drinking.

Miss Whittlestone said Lee, like many such offenders when first confronted by such offending, had denied having a sexual interest in children. “He understands that is unrealistic,” said the barrister.

He was resolved to apply himself to the proposed sexual offender treatment programme.

Judge Nicholas Barker noted the prolonged period of the offending, which happened between November 2015, and March, 2021. But it was right to take into account the defendant’s challenging upbringing and his volunteering in Ukraine.

Lee was the “very example” of a defendant suitable for an alternative sentence to custody, focused on rehabilitation, said the judge. 

Judge Barker imposed a three-year community order, with 25 rehabilitation activity days. Lee must take part in the Sex Offender Treatment Programme.

Lee will be on the Sex Offender Register for five years. As punishment, he must complete 120 hours of unpaid work.