Latest Offenders Lancashire

Description

He has today (1st August 2024) been given a sentence at Preston Crown Court for 22 years.

He lured the women into his vehicle as they made their way home from nights out by leading them to believe he was a taxi driver. He then drove them to remote locations before subjecting them to serious sexual assaults.

The first incident happened on the 3rd of October 2021. The victim got into Asmal’s car in Preston city centre. He drove for about ten minutes, raped his victim in the car and then dropped her off back in the city centre. She flagged a member of the public down for help.

The second incident happened on 4th of March 2023. The victim had been on a night out in Darwen and ended up in Asmal’s car. He drove her to a secluded area on the outskirts of Darwen where he then raped her. Asmal managed to get the victims phone number and called her at the start of April. She did not answer the call on that occasion because it came up with ‘no caller ID’.

Asmal called her again on 8th of April 2023 and this time she did answer. The victim recognised the voice as the man who had raped her but did not know his identity. She ended the call after Asmal asked the terrified victim ‘If she wanted to do something?’

Asmal raped his third victim on the same evening he made that call. The victim got into Asmal’s car in Darwen town centre. Driving her towards Bolton, in the opposite direction of her home, Asmal said: “You don’t want to pay for this taxi, do you?”

He stopped in a secluded area and raped her. He then dropped her off at her home address.

We identified Asmal after his black Toyota Yaris was picked up on CCTV cameras.

Asmal, 35, now of no fixed address but formerly Balaclava Street, Blackburn, appeared at Preston Crown Court on in November and pleaded guilty to four counts of rape.

Judge Heather Lloyd deemed Asmal to be a dangerous offender and sentenced him to 17 years in custody with a further five years on extended licence. He was also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life.

Description

A 28-year-old man has been jailed after exposing himself on a train in Preston.

Kane Hargreaves, of Elizabeth Street, Burnley was found guilty of two counts of exposure at Preston Crown Court on Friday 28 June.

He was sentenced to nine months in prison, and must pay a £187 victim surcharge.

The court heard how, on Wednesday 10 April this year, Hargreaves was staring and exposing himself  to a 21-year-old woman sat a few seats away on the 2.44pm Preston to Bradford interchange train. The woman moved away and told rail staff before reporting it to British Transport Police.

A second incident occurred on Monday 22 April onboard the 1.44pm Preston to Accrington train when Hargreaves again exposed himself, this time to a 17-year-old woman.

Investigating officer DC Ella Harvey said:  "We will stop at nothing to deter, pursue, arrest and bring sex offenders on the railway network to justice.

Description

A serial sex offender, obsessed with young boys, sobbed as he was led to the cells after a judge jailed him for his latest sordid offence.

Stuart Mallen was caught in a “sting” by a paedophile vigilante group when he attempted to meet up in a Blackpool car park with a youngster he believed was 15.

The 45-year-old was sitting in his vehicle waiting for his victim with a tube of lubricant on his lap, Preston Crown Court was told.

Jailing him for 20 months, Judge Ian Unsworth told him: “You are a predatory paedophile with a sexual attraction to young boys.

“It is to your good fortune that it didn’t involve a real child.”

Mallen, of Salisbury Avenue, Knott End, pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child.

He also admitted three counts of making indecent images of children after police found he had a stash of 36 obscene photographs and videos of youngsters on his devices.

The court heard that in February Mallen made contact online with what he thought was a 15-year-old boy. In fact it was a fake profile set up by paedophile hunters intent on snaring sex offenders.

Messages between Mallen and the “boy” showed that the conversation “was short-lived but had quickly escalated to one of a sexual nature.”

Mallen then sent a photograph of his private parts and they arranged to meet up in Blackpool.

Judge Unsworth told him: “You drove to a car park where you were detained by a paedophile hunter group. It was a sting.”

He said that while a container of lubricant had been found on his lap in the car “the prosecution have chosen not to charge you with what may have happened in that meeting.

“So I don’t sentence you for that, but it is a feature the court can have regard to when it considers the case.”

The court heard Mallen had previously been found guilty of sexual offences involving children – once when he was working in primary schools.

In 2007 he received a police caution after he was found in possession of indecent material involving a child and also using an internet site to view images of youngsters.

He had been working in a school at the time and police launched an investigation into his behaviour after concerns were raised.

Then in 2008 Mallen appeared in Wolverhampton Crown Court for a list of offences involving children including eight of meeting or communicating with a child under the age of 16 following sexual grooming. He faced four charges of sexual activity with a child and two of engaging in a sex act in the presence of a child.

He had met a 14-year-old boy online and developed a sexual relationship with him. He travelled to Plymouth where he took the victim back to his hotel room and spent the night with him, during which there was sexual activity.

He was given a community order for three years and also made the subject of a 10-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order which banned him from being alone with children.

Judge Unsworth said that in a pre-sentence report to the court in this case a probation officer said Mallen had admitted he was “attracted, and sexually so, to teenage boys.”

He told him: “Your offending to date shows you act on that when the opportunity arises.”

The judge said his past record had to be taken into account when sentencing him and whether or not the court could step back from an immediate custodial sentence in this case.

“In my judgement it is a serious case of its kind. I accept that you are remorseful.”

Judge Unsworth sentenced Mallen to 12 months in prison for attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child under 16.

He gave him 20 months for possessing 19 Category A indecent photos and videos, 12 months for nine Category B images and video and eight months for having eight Category C pictures.

The judge ordered all the sentences to be served concurrently, meaning a total of 20 months.

“I am required to consider whether I can draw back from a sentence of immediate imprisonment. I have carefully considered the various matters and in my judgement only a sentence of immediate custody can possibly be appropriate in this case.”

Mallen broke down in tears and was sobbing uncontrollably as he was led from the dock.

The judge ordered the devices he had used to access child pornography to be destroyed.

Description

A convicted sex offender who had been evicted from his home turned up at his ex's parents house while she put her kids to bed.

Bairon Cross, 34, called the woman several times, but as she settled her children she noticed him in the garden of the house in Preston. He knocked on the door, and when the woman answered she told him to leave, Preston Crown Court heard.

However Cross called the woman a 'tramp' and snatched a laptop, belonging to her parents. He refused to give it back, Alison Mather, prosecuting, said.

Cross was arrested in Kent Street, Preston, on September 17. When approached by officers, he was resistant and aggressive but was overpowered and taken to the police station.

The court heard he has been diagnosed with schizophrenia but in February 2024 he was assessed as being fit to enter guilty pleas to theft and failure to comply with notification requirements. He has previous convictions for including theft and sexual activity with a child in 2010.

Sentencing, Judge Ian Unsworth, said due to Cross's medical condition he would make a hospital order for him to be detained at Guild Lodge until he was considered well enough to return to the community.

The judge said: "The author of your presentence report makes the conclusion that at Guild Lodge you have been making very good progress. You have been receptive to your treatment and co-operating with staff. Everything you are doing is of positive note. I would urge you to continue to make the progress you are."

Description

A mum says she and her son were left prisoners in their own home after a 'monster' stole her son's childhood and threatened them in their own home. Dale Barker, 33, has been jailed for six years and nine months after he admitted sexually assaulting a child and possession of a knife.

But as Barker, of Cotton Tree Lane, Colne, begins his prison sentence, the mum and son are left trying to rebuild their lives which they say have been completely destroyed by their abuser. Barker befriended the mum when they met in a shop where he was working, but after a few weeks the woman noticed 'strange behaviour'.

"He kept buying gifts and things for my son and being overly pally", she said.

"It was grooming, but when I said I didn't want this anymore it went really, really wrong. I asked him to leave but he wouldn't go.

"He assaulted me in front of my son, but that charge was later dropped. It went into a whole spiral of awful things - knife threats, arson threats, everything."

As a result of the threats, the family home was safeguarded by Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service and the family was given a priority to move home. As Barker remained on bail, the mother said she became hypervigilant, locking doors and gates and using a tracker on her son's phone.

Both mum and son suffered serious mental health problems and the son became suicidal and stopped attending school.

"I am constantly ill through stress and hypervigilance and my symptoms have manifested physically over the last 16 months", the mother said. She no longer feels comfortable around strangers and has lost her business due to the difficulties she has faced.

"Barker has destroyed our family. He has taken away my son's childhood which he will never get back and has to carry this for the rest of his life.

"He has attempted to take his own life and continues not to cope on a daily basis. My mental health is at crisis point.

"This has been the most difficult time of my life not only for the crimes he committed against me but for the hatred I hold against him for sexually assaulting my son. Barker has been able to freely live his life and I am incensed by this, that we have been treated like the criminal and have not had adequate protection from the courts. My son and I have been on the brink of mental collapse."

Judge Sara Dodd, sentencing, said Barker was a dangerous offender who posed a significant risk of serious harm to the public. In addition to the jail term, she imposed an extended licence period of three years and three months to protect the public.

The mother said: "The day he was sentenced was the hardest day of my life. I went through so many different emotions - relief, shock, fear. I honestly think he is a psychopath.

"I'd known him a few weeks and he was trying to get his feet under the table. My son has had to be so brave and grown up but I think the bravery and resilience he has shown has saved so many potential victims.

"Now Barker is behind bars he is able to go out with his friends without looking over his shoulder all the time. There is still a long way to go, and he will have to carry this forever, but it is a start to try to move forwards."

In addition to the prison sentence, Barker has been handed a 12-year sexual harm prevention order and made the subject of notification requirements - also known as the sex offenders register - indefinitely. Judge Dodd also made an indefinite restraining order to protect the family.

Description

A former Shetland primary school teacher has been jailed for 30 months after molesting six of his pupils in their classroom more than a decade ago.

Stephen Tait was also added to the sex offenders register for life following a trial that convicted the 41-year-old of six charges of lewd, indecent and libidinous behaviour.

Today, Sheriff Ian Wallace described his offending at Bell’s Brae Primary School in Lerwick as “ongoing, planned behaviour against children”.

He told the serial sex offender: “It was made more serious in that it was committed by you, a teacher, against young children who were in your care.

“It was a serious breach of trust and the seriousness of it and the potential harm caused would have been obvious to you.

“The evidence against you was clear and compelling and the jury returned a unanimous verdict of guilty.”

‘Actions like yours also harm the teaching profession’

Sheriff Wallace found Tait’s victims, who gave evidence against him, “to be admirably robust” and who have managed to “continue with their lives”.

“Their responses to your offending during evidence was measures,” he said, adding: “Nevertheless, your actions will continue to have an impact on them.”

Sheriff Wallace continued: “Actions like yours also harm the teaching profession and offending like yours impacts those who work in that profession, children who attend school and parents who send their children to school.

“I’m satisfied that a custodial sentence is appropriate.”

Sheriff Wallace sentenced Tait, of St Albans Road, Lytham, St Annes, to 30 months imprisonment and placed him on the sex offenders register for life.

Description

A paedophile jailed for trying to contact children online says he did it as a form of escapism from his boring job. Alastair Walsh, 49, has been locked up for 18 months after being caught in a police sting.

He was convicted of attempted sexual communication with three online profiles set up by undercover cops. He quickly turned the chat sexual and discussed the possibility of meeting up.

He did not know the profiles were decoys and the children did not exist. Police arrested him at his home in Ilfracombe and seized devices. They found evidence he also liked to chat with other paedophiles about his fantasies online.

Walsh admitted three offences of attempted sexual communication with a child and one of distributing an indecent image.

Prosecutor Paul Grumbar said the three communication offences each followed a similar pattern with Walsh using Kik and thinking he was messaging girls. In one message to a decoy 13-year-old he said he said was a 19-year-old call Al.

He sent photos of a male torso and told the 'child' he wanted to put his hands down her skirt. He also sent a pornographic image via WhatsApp.

Police arrested him in June 2022 and seized his devices. Analysis showed a number of messages, including one where he shared a category B image of a real girl aged 10-12, and others involving long discussions with other paedophiles.

He told police the activity was an escape because he was going through a difficult time and denied any intention to meet the children.

Walsh is now ashamed of his actions and would welcome rehabilitative work. He was drinking a bottle of wine and cider every day at the time and "wasn't enjoying his job," working as a manager for an unnamed firm, said Zoe Kuyken, defending. He now has a new job as a coach driver and is much happier.

Judge David Evans said: "It seems you have a clear interest in underage girls. You engaged with three profiles for young girls aged 12-13 online. You turned things sexual quite rapidly each time.

"You send them partial photos of naked bodies and solicited images from them. You discussed underage girls with other like-minded adults. You clearly pose some risk of reoffending and clearly have an interest in underage girls."

Description

A sex offender described as a "serious risk to women" was found to have been going to Bury to "engage in a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl".

Callum Cox, 23, has a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) with a number of conditions and prohibitions.

He told police on a home compliance visit that he did not have a mobile phone, access to the internet or social media.  

But just 10 days later, Lancashire Police, working with Greater Manchester Police, discovered Cox had been travelling to Bury and engaging in a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl.

Cox, of The Grove, Oswaldwistle, was arrested, and a mobile phone was seized.

Specialist officers carried out searches of Cox’s mobile phones, where they found that he had "intentionally deceived the police in an effort to pursue multiple relationships with women online", including with a 17-year-old girl.

It was found he had travelled out of Lancashire in attempt to avoid detection.

Cox was charged with seven breaches of his SHPO and sex offender notification requirements. He plead guilty to four of the charges.

On Monday, March 18, Cox was sentenced at Burnley Crown Court to two years and seven months for breaching his SHPO.

An application to amend the existing SHPO will be heard at Blackburn Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, April 10.

Description

A former Blackburn primary school teacher has been jailed for his role in a major probe into an international paedophile ring which spanned more than a decade.

Police swooped on the home of perverted William Chambers after they were notified by the National Crime Agency (NCA) about the arrest of a Belgian national, who was suspected of selling thousands of indecent images of children.

At Blackburn Magistrates Court in January, the court was told Chambers was tracked down after the arrested Belgian provided the NCA with the 60-year-olds phone number.

When police visited his home, in Weavers Court, Preston New Road, they found he had more than 1,500 indecent images of children on his devices.

Chambers, who was working as a teacher during the commission of the offences, pleaded guilty to possession of 166 of the most serious Category A images, 544 Category B images and 854 Category C images.

During his sentencing at Preston Crown Court on Thursday (March 7), it was heard Chambers had worked at Roe Lee Primary School in Blackburn between September 2020 and 2021, St James Primary School in Burnley between October 2021 and April 2022, and Lower Darwen Primary School between between 1999 and 2012.

The case involving the making of images and downloading of images onto a laptop which was then operated in such a way where images were moved to a hard drive and a TOR browser [software to enable anonymous communication] used.

On at least 15 occasions cleaning software was also deployed.

Prosecuting, Nicholas Flanagan told the court the NCA, in collaboration with Interpol, were investigating an international network of people suspected of abusing children worldwide.

The court heard the investigation started almost 20 years ago, with images taken of children being abused in a number of countries, including Vietnam, India, the Philippines, Morocco, Norway and Myanmar.

Suspects were identified in the UK, Netherlands, France, Canada and Norway, with six of the UK suspects now serving lengthy custodial sentences.

Some of the victims in the case are now adults, the court heard, with many of them coming forward to provide evidence to the NCA as part of the investigation.

Mr Flanagan said: Analysis of the Belgian national's devices found there were many people communicating regularly and sharing such images, which led to the identification of this defendant.

There is no evidence of this defendant sharing or distributing images though, he is only concerned with possession.

Mr Flanagan told the court Chambers had travelled extensively throughout his life, visiting India around 20 times, said to be part of his studies.

He had also visited the Balkan states on numerous occasions from the mid-1990s.

He was arrested on November 11, 2022, and his devices analysed where police found he had thousands of depraved and explicit images, both accessible and inaccessible to officers.

It was also discovered that he had purchased a virtual private network (VPN) in order to conceal his sordid activities, and had deployed software capable of wiping his history.

During his initial police interviews, Mr Flanagan said Chambers was evasive and selective with his answers even telling one officer, I must have had them [on my computer] otherwise you wouldnt have found them.

Some of the images he had in his possession included young south Asian boys as young as eight years old being abused by adult males.

Harriet Lavin, in mitigation for Chambers, said: He is 60-years-old now and recovering from colon cancer, is in remission and is incontinent.

He has missed several doctors appointments while hes been in custody, which is just over three weeks now.

He described his life as bleak. He has been isolated and suffered from depression and anxiety and being in custody is the first time hes been socialising with people except for online.

He is remorseful and is someone who wants to take advantage of the help that is on offer to him.

Chambers, who was of previous good character, was jailed for 20 months.

He had already been made subject to sex offender registration requirements at a previous hearing, with Judge Ian Unsworth KC imposing notification requirements on Chambers for a period of 10 years.

He was also handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and was barred from working with children and young people.

When he is released he will be on license and post sentence supervision.

Forfeiture and destruction of all devices was also ordered.

Judge Unsworth said: In summary you have admitted possession of 1,564 images. This occurred over a period of 11 years but its since been ascertained that you were in possession of the hard drive for five years.

You are a paedophile with a perverted sexual interest in young boys.

You worked at primary schools across Lancashire and must have undertaken these offences while being employed as such.

You were entrusted to care for young children and had safeguarding responsibilities towards them.

The schools and parents trusted you to be a proper person to teach but the evidence in this case shows you are someone who is sexually attracted to young boys, and you went to great lengths to satisfy those paedophilic desires by using dedicated software.

Downloading images perpetuates the problem and encourages the making of further indecent images.

These children might be further harmed by the knowledge of the perverted gratification that adults like you gained from looking at them, which they only came to realise as they got older.

This was an extremely thorough investigation by the NCA, but for their hard work your activities would have gone without detection.

Investigators established that the images on Chambers' devices were supplied over the dark web by a Belgian national who was part of the same group as Christopher Behn, from Essex, and John Thorogood, from London.

Both these men travelled to Asia and Africa respectively over several years to abuse vulnerable young boys.

Behn, from Essex, was jailed for 17 years in November, while Thorogood, from north London, was sentenced to more than seven years imprisonment in December.

Phil Eccles, operations manager at the NCA, said: Men like William Chambers help fuel the worldwide demand for child sexual abuse material, which in this case was supplied by a group who travelled across the globe to offend.

By obtaining this material he contributed to the re-victimisation of the children abused in these images.

Description

A PAEDOPHILE who told someone he believed to be a 13-year-old girl he was the ‘right person’ for her has walked free from court.

Nigel Lambert engaged in depraved sexualised chats with two ‘children’ – but in fact, the counts were being operated by undercover police officers tasked with rooting out online sex offenders.

The 43-year-old sent disgusting photos to the ‘young girls’ and told them he ‘needed kisses’, but he was able to leave court with a suspended sentence.

 
He appeared before Liverpool Crown Court to be sentenced on four counts of attempted sexual communications with a child and sole counts each of possessing indecent images of children, making indecent images of children and possessing extreme pornographic images involving animals

The court heard from prosecutor Christopher Taylor how three of the communications offences involve the same police officer.

Between February 10 and 22, 2022, the officer, under the guise of a 13-year-old girl called Zoe, chatted to the defendant, who was using the username Bunnies.

In messages exchanged on Kik Messenger, Lambert claimed to be a 36-year-old man living near Manchester, with ‘Zoe’ telling him she was only 13 after he asked if she would have sex with an older man.

The continued to chat on Kik, where the defendant asked the girl if she had a boyfriend, about her sexual activity and if she was a ‘good kisser’

In one chat, when Zoe said she would have sex with the right person, Lambert replied: “I’m the right person.”

Another saw the defendant ask what she was doing, and when she said schoolwork, he replied that he ‘needed kisses’ and was playing with his penis, which he described as ‘big’. 

 He asked her if she wanted to engage in sexual activity and sent her sexualised photos and a video, before asking if she was ‘turned on’ by them.

The defendant sent a video of a man performing a sex act and claimed it was himself, then asked if she could send him something similar.

The fourth communication offence involved a different undercover police officer posing as Georgia, again a 13-year-old girl, on the platform Chatiw, and later on Snapchat.

Lambert asked the girl if she was ‘horny’ and sent her a photo of an erect penis.

He was arrested at his former home on Longdin Street in Latchford on December 8, 2022, and gave no comment to questions asked of him during his police interview.

His mobile phone was seized and examined, and a Samsung account linked to both the device and Lambert was found to contain two category B indecent images of children, as well as two extreme pornographic images involving animals.

On behalf of his client, Gerald Baxter, defending, spoke of how Lambert pleaded guilty to all offences and is a man of previous ‘good character’, with no prior convictions.

“He has expressed genuine remorse. He is also deeply ashamed and embarrassed about his behaviour. He is relieved no child was harmed,” Mr Baxter said.

The barrister also said that the defendant is in ‘good’ employment, which he may lose should he be sent to prison immediately, with the same going for his privately rented accommodation.

 Before sentencing, judge Brian Cummings said: “These were attempt offences in the sense that the ‘child’ was very fortunately, including for you, not a child, but a police officer posing as a child.

“Fortunately for you, unbeknown to you but very importantly and critically in your case, the people you were communicating with were not actual children.

“If they had been, the outcome in this case would be very different.

“I cannot accept that you have shown remorse, as remorse means being sorry for what you have done, and it is clear from what you said to the Probation Service, you did not accept what you have done, and there seems to be a level of denial on your part.

“You said you do not have a sexual interest in children. That is simply unrealistic. Of course you do. That is why you committed these offences, and you must come to terms with that.”

However, having deemed the defendant to be a ‘realistic prospect of rehabilitation’, Judge Cummings concluded: “In my judgement, I am persuaded it is appropriate to suspend the sentence in your case.

“Intensive work with you, in my judgement, gives the public and children the best protection and the prospect of you being rehabilitated.”

Lambert, now of Wellington Road in Preston, was sentenced to 18 months in prison suspended for two years, including 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

He must also sign the sex offender register and abide by the terms of a sexual harm prevention order – both for 10 years – with an order approved to deprive him of his mobile phone.

Description

A convicted sex offender boasted online about raping and abusing a child.

In October 2019, Brian David Smith was engaged in an online chat with a man – who was actually an investigating officer from the North East Regional Organised Crime Unit (NEROCU) – during which he admitted to sexually abusing a child.

He had further phone conversations with the officer and arranged to meet who he thought would be a 12-year-old girl and planned to take her virginity.

Smith travelled from his home in Morecambe in November 2019 to the pre-arranged location in the North East only to find officers from NEROCU waiting for him.

He was arrested on suspicion of attempting to arrange of facilitate the commission of a child sex offence and while under caution said: “I don’t know why I did it. I’ve made a big mistake.”

When he was searched, Smith was found to be in possession of sex toys, sweets, and a mobile phone.

Later the same day, officer from the Online Child Abuse Investigation Team searched Smith’s home in Fairhope Avenue, Morecambe, and found indecent images of children and extreme pornographic images on several of his electronic devices.

Officers managed to track down the victim of Smith’s sexual abuse and she confirmed she was just eight years old when it started. It only stopped when she attempted to take her own life, such was the impact of Smith’s abuse.

He appeared at Preston Crown Court on Friday, January 19 and was jailed for 14 years, with three years on extended license.

Smith, 57, was convicted of rape, indecent assault, arranging or facilitating the commission of a sexual offence, and making indecent images of children.

He was also made subject to an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and ordered to sign the Sex Offender’s Register for life.

Description

A sick sex offender who preyed on a young girl is now behind bars.

Anthony Fallows, 40, of Raglan Road in Burnley, was found guilty of engaging in sexual activity with a girl between the ages of 13 and 15 following a trial at Bradford Crown Court. It was said his offending took place in the Southowram area.

When he appeared in court on Thursday, January 18, he was handed a sentence of seven years and nine months.

Following the sentencing, Detective Constable Carly Hemingway of West Yorkshire Police’s Calderdale District Safeguarding said: “I’d like to thank the victim who has shown tremendous strength to come forward and report this. She feels that she has now got the justice she deserves.

“Our dedicated child protection team here in Calderdale is committed to investigating and supporting the victims of sexual offences and I hope the jailing of Fallows demonstrates that, no matter when the offence took place, victims will be believed and treated with sensitivity and dignity.”

Description

A prolific sex offender breached his sexual harm prevention order by uploading indecent images to the internet via Snapchat and was found to have more than 800 indecent images of children.

Joshua Newton, 25, was given a five-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) in 2017 along with a community order. He was then given a 13-month custodial sentence and had a 15-year SHPO in February 22 for breaching that order.

On April 22, 2023, after his release, Newton’s offender manager DC Harrison received information that Newton had uploaded indecent images via Snapchat.

He visited Newton’s address and the defendant handed over a mobile phone which, upon examination, showed a Snapchat page that had not been logged with police.

A further analysis of the phone, after Newton had been arrested, uncovered a TikTok account that had also not been registered.

Permission for Newton to access both of these apps had not been granted as they allow the user to delete data.

These accounts were registered using an email address that had not been given to the police.

That email address was also linked to two Google accounts, and the phone was found to contain access to a Mega cloud storage account.

Found within that account were more a total of 846 indecent images of children – 465 category A, 146 category B, and 238 category C, as well as three extreme pornographic images.

The Mega app where the images were located was found to be installed on the phone on January 23, 2023.

Sarah Gruffydd, prosecuting, said there were a “large number” of children depicted in the images though there was no evidence he had communicated with real children.

Anthony Horsfall, defending, said his client was under no illusions about the seriousness of his conduct.

He added Newton lived a “lifestyle of isolation” which was exacerbated by the pandemic and increased his “willingness to divulge in some of his interests.”

Judge Robert Altham, sentencing, said: “You are a persistent offender. So far you have shown no intention of complying with the orders made by the court and that is troubling.

“You have a persistent and enduring sexual interest in children such that you do pose a risk.

“Every one of these images of a child represents the abuse of a real living, breathing child somewhere.

“Each time you obtain one of these images you are encouraging people to abuse real living children.

“You should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself for seeking to perpetuate that industry. You are going to have to learn you must abide by those orders otherwise the sentences are going to get longer and longer and you will spend much more of your young adult life in prison.”

Newton, of HMP Risley but whose last known address was Albert Street, Burnley, pleaded guilty to three counts of breaching a SHPO, one count of failure to comply with notification requirements, three counts of making indecent images, and one count of possessing extreme pornographic images.

He was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Description

A “dangerous” paedophile and rapist will spend at least nine and a half years behind bars after being convicted of multiple historic sex offences which he committed against three children when he himself was a child.

Warren Templeton has also been jailed for a rape and two sexual assaults he carried out on a vulnerable man between 2008 and 2016, when he and his victim were both adults.

Burnley Crown Court heard how Templeton was between the ages of 13 and 17 when he carried out his first collection of sordid crimes against a boy and two girls, who were between the ages of six and 11.

The incidents, which also involved two acts of gross indecency, took place between 1997 and 2001 in Burnley and left his victims so traumatised they could only find the courage to report the crimes to police in 2020.

His fourth victim, a vulnerable man, was assaulted and raped by Templeton between 2008 and 2016, when Templeton was between 25 and 33 years of age, with prosecuting barrister Peter Barr telling the court that he left his victim in pain for days.

Reading from the victim impact statements, Mr Barr said: “His adult victim said the impact of the defendant raping him has affected every day of his life since it happened.

“He said the rape exacerbated his health issues and the emotional impact it had is massive and no words can ever describe it.

“He said he tried to take his life multiple times as he can’t cope with what Templeton did to him and finds it difficult to develop friendships or romantic relationships."

Mr Barr added: “He said he is scared of what Templeton might do if he ever saw him again and asked the court to protect him.”

Mr Barr told the court that Templeton’s other victims echoed similar statements, with all three having been deeply emotionally and psychologically affected by what he did to them as children, which has in turn affected their personal relationships.

He went on: “None of his victims want to see the defendant ever again and have asked the judge to keep them safe by keeping him in prison for a long time.”

Mitigating for Templeton, now 40, Kristian Cavanagh said: “He recognises this will be a lengthy prison sentence.

“And more than that, he recognises that it’s highly unlikely to be determinate.

“He well understands that the court will be considering a further extended sentence, and that realisation and realistic approach has manifested itself to the extent that he’s already made enquiries as to where he will be placed so he can best undertake the Kaizen program for high-risk males.”

Templeton, currently of HMP Wymott but previously of Florence Street, Burnley, pleaded guilty to seven counts of indecent assault against children under the age of 14 and two counts of inciting a child to commit an act of gross indecency.

He was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault and one rape following a four-day trial in August.

He has 11 convictions for 19 offences, the last in 2019 when he received a four-year prison sentence for arson.

Judge Sara Dodd said: “You continue to pose a risk to the public and are at significant risk to causing further harm to adults.

“You are a high risk of causing harm to children and your risk has not diminished while you have been in custody these last four years.

“I have come to the conclusion that you are dangerous and I have to decide whether a determinate sentence is significant enough to protect the public, which is why I will impose an extended sentence.”

Templeton was jailed for 12 months for the offences against his three child victims and a total of nine years, with five years on extended licence, for the rape and sexual assault against his adult victim, which will run consecutively, giving a total extended sentence of 15 years.

He must also sign the sex offender’s register for life and was made subject to a lifetime restraining order against all four of his victims.

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A convicted sex offender who was sleeping rough failed to register with police every seven days as he was required to do.

Blackburn magistrates heard Kevin Melody had also failed to turn up for an appointment with the probation service and two court dates during a “chaotic” period in his life.

Melody, 51, of Laithe Street, Burnley, pleaded guilty to two charges of breaching sex offender registration requirements.

He was sentenced to 10 weeks in prison suspended for 12 months.

District Judge Alexandra Preston said Melody had breached the order in May, June and October, had failed to turn up at court twice and missed appointments with the Probation Service.

“I am prepared to suspend the prison sentence because I have heard about the problems of being homeless that you have had this year,” said District Judge Preston.

Julia Draper, prosecuting, said because he was homeless Melody had report to the police every seven days.

“It is a way for the police to monitor that he is still in the area,” said Miss Draper.

“He claimed he went to Nelson police station to sign on but it was closed.

"He then went to Burnley police station but says he was dragged down an alley and beaten up and told to stay out of Burnley.”

Janet Sime, in mitigation, said her client had been struggling with accommodation problems and accepted he had missed signing on and appointments with the probation service.

“Within the last few days he has obtained an address with a friend and hopefully that will make things easier,” said Miss Sime.

“If he has an address he only has to sign on every 12 months.”