Latest Offenders Hartlepool

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A PAEDOPHILE whose case caused uproar when he was allowed to go free because of apparent police blunders was back in court today.

Child pornography pervert David Berry was hit with an order which means his activities will now be monitored and restricted by the authorities.

Judge Michael Taylor sparked fury in September when he spared 61-year-old Berry, despite saying: “This man fully deserves to go to prison.”

He blamed Cleveland Police for taking so long to bring the case to court and for an officer turning up late to show him the indecent images of children.

The judge also refused to impose a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) on Berry because he said the terms were “incomprehensible”.

Today, a new draft SOPO was put before the court, and Judge Taylor imposed it, telling Berry: “It will apply for the rest of your life.”

The order bans the sex offender from having unsupervised contact with under-18s, and fitting anti-forensic software to his computer.

Berry will also have to allow police risk management officers access to his Hartlepool home and let them examine the contents of his computer.

He was given a community order in September after he admitted 16 charges of making indecent images of children and possessing more than 500 others.

Police found the pictures and short films on six different storage devices during a raid at his home in Lowthian Road, Hartlepool, in July 2007.

Wheelchair-user Berry, who was jailed in 1988 for indecently assaulting a child, was also ordered to undergo a sex offenders’ treatment programme.

At Teesside Crown Court yesterday, controversial Judge Taylor again criticised the prosecution, describing it as “totally unsatisfactory”.

Berry’s barrister, Peter Sabiston, said: “I have discussed the draft SOPO with my client, and the prohibitions seem to be workable and reasonable.”

Last night, Berry’s daughter, Jayne, who criticised the decision to spare her father prison, welcomed the move to carefully monitor his activities.

The 35-year-old said: “He should have gone to jail last time, but I’m glad the order has finally been made, and hopefully it will prevent a repeat.”

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REMORSELESS child molester Colin Raymond Taylor today begins an 18-year prison sentence for a litany of devastating sexual abuse.

The 41-year-old pervert was given the jail term as the three girls who spoke out against him were commended for their courage.

Judge Peter Armstrong told Taylor yesterday: “I take the view that you remain a danger to young girls and accordingly a substantial sentence will be necessary.

“You still continue to deny matters completely despite the overwhelming evidence against you.

“And you show absolutely no remorse whatsoever.”

He passed sentence at Teesside Crown Court for a list of 30 sex crimes against girls as young as six, some stretching back to the 1980s.

After a two-week trial last month, a jury found him guilty of 19 charges.

These included seven counts of child rape - “one of the most serious offences in the criminal calendar,” said the judge yesterday.

He was also convicted on charges of indecent or sexual assault, sexual activity with a child and actual bodily harm assault.

He denied all of the abuse, claiming it didn’t happen and accusing the complainants and their supporters of lying.

“They are to be commended for having the courage to give evidence,” added the judge.

He told Taylor: “You had a trial in which you made the three victims of your sexual abuse relive the ordeals that you put them through. Anyone sitting through that trial heard a catalogue of appalling abuse.”

The judge said Taylor video recorded some of his crimes and tried to avoid detection. When one girl complained about what he did, he physically assaulted her.

He told how one victim, now a grown adult, particularly suffered from the “indignities” imposed upon her.

It led to her becoming involved in drug addiction and prostitution, affected her ability to trust men and caused difficulties in relationships.

“It devastated her life,” said Judge Armstrong.

He praised her dignity recounting her experiences in the witness box to bring her abuser to justice.

He said Taylor also took advantage of two other girls, repeatedly touching and interfering with them.

Days after the trial, Taylor admitted 11 offences of making indecent photographs of children - 11 still and moving images found on his computer, downloaded during 2007.

Some were child abuse images involving girls as young as 10, placing them in the second most serious category in law.

The judge said Taylor’s offending in recent years showed he “still harboured distorted thinking” and had a sexual interest in underage girls.

Adrian Dent, defending, said there was little he could say in mitigation for Taylor, of Macaulay Road, Hartlepool.

He said: “Overall he understands that there will be a substantial custodial sentence, even though he has no previous convictions.

“There was a substantial gap in offending.”

He said Taylor had worked hard throughout his life, it would be his first time in prison and he would have “an extremely difficult time” there.

Mr Dent added that Taylor was a young man at the time of some of his crimes. The judge said this was no excuse.

Taylor was banned from working with children indefinitely.

He also received an indefinite sexual offences prevention order banning contact with under-18s or his victims, having photographs of children, camera or video equipment or accessing the internet.

Detective Constable Zoe McCarthy said today: “The sexual abuse of children ruins lives, and the sexual abuse committed against the victims of Colin Taylor has had a devastating effect upon them.

“The substantial sentence today reflects the seriousness of the offences committed.

“Sexual offences against children, no matter how many years ago, will be thoroughly investigated by the Child Abuse Investigation Unit of Cleveland Police.

“The families of the two teenage victims have stated that they are very pleased Taylor has been brought to justice and the girls are now trying to rebuild their lives.

“Taylor’s other victim, who is now an adult, has spoken of how the abuse has changed her life forever causing her great emotional suffering which she is now trying to overcome.”

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A COURT security guard who conducted a “campaign of rape” on four children was yesterday jailed for 15 years.

Paul Aird used the two boys and two girls, “for his sexual gratification” in a litany of abuse spanning more than 20 years.

The 49-year-old guard, who worked at Hartlepool Magistrates’ Court, was convicted of raping and indecently assaulting the four victims in his car and at his home, following a five-day trial at Teesside Crown Court, in July.

He claimed the allegations were engineered by his former wife’s family following his second marriage to a younger woman.

The trial jury was told that Aird, of Oxford Road, Hartlepool, told one girl to stay silent for years because the shock would kill her ill mother.

Despite his denials, Aird was found guilty of seven charges of rape, two of buggery, one of attempted rape, and three of indecent assault, on dates between December 1981 and February 2002.

He was cleared of indecent assaults on two women, at a barbecue and at a Christmas party. Judge Evans directed the jury to acquit him of another buggery offence and an indecent assault.

He was brought back for sentence yesterday, when Durham Crown Court was told that, despite the verdicts, Aird still denies the allegations.

Robin Denny, mitigating, said:

“There’s nothing I can say about the offences. He still denies them and his wife stands by him.”

Mr Denny revealed that following sentencing Aird was to attend his father’s funeral.

Judge Evans told Aird: “You turned your attentions from one victim to another without any shame, remorse or compassion, using each to satisfy your sexual gratification.

It’s a tribute to them that they have managed to make something of their lives, not withstanding what happened to them.”

Aird was ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for life and is forbidden from working with children for life. He is also subject to various restrictions under the terms of a sexual offences’ prevention order.

Speaking after the sentence, Detective Sergeant Matt Mason, of Cleveland Police’s Hartlepool child abuse investigation unit, said: “The victims, who are now all adults, are delighted with this outcome.”