Latest Offenders Newcastle

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Leslie Short, labelled 'an entrenched and committed paedophile', has been jailed for 12 years for sexual assault and indecent image offences A twisted pervert who sexually abused two young girls had videos of one of the victims on his computer, among more than 12,000 indecent images. Paedophile Leslie Short left his victims traumatised for life by grooming and molesting them in separate attacks spanning a decade. During one of the assaults, one of the girls tried to run away but he grabbed her by the ankles to try to stop her. When one of the victims told her mother what had happened, police were called and Short was arrested. On computer equipment found at his house, there were a total of 12,351 indecent images of children. Among them was footage he had taken of one of the abuse victims and images of other children he copied from someones computer while fixing it. When confronted by police, Short said: I cant explain all this. Sick mind I suppose. Now the 59-year-old, never in trouble before, has been locked up for 12 years at Newcastle Crown Court. Judge Robin Mairs told him: You used the guise of being a caring adult to immerse yourself in the lives of young children then abused them. This spanned at least a decade and it is clear you are an entrenched and committed paedophile. Short, of Campion Gardens, Gateshead, carried out the attacks on the first girl when she was aged six or seven. Robert Spragg, prosecuting, said the sexual assaults had had a lasting impact on her. He said: It has particularly affected her school life and her ability to trust people. She ended up with severe depression, her relationship with her mother suffered and her ability to form relationships with other people suffered. She says she doesnt think she will ever get over what he did to her and feels she will be mentally scarred for life. The second victim has also been badly affected by Shorts actions, the court heard. Mr Spragg said: She became clingy and anxious about going to other peoples houses for the night and has had bad dreams as a result of what happened to her. When Short was arrested, police searched his home and found the indecent images and movies. Among the footage was video he had taken of one of the abuse victims, although not of the abuse. He had also copied images of other children from a computer he was fixing for someone. Short pleaded guilty to five child sex offences seven offences of making indecent images of children. As well as the 12 year prison sentence he must sign the sex offender register for life, was barred from working with children and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order. Jamie Adams, defending, said: He is not making excuses for it and he accepts totally the wrongfulness of what he has done. He has been, for much of his life, a hard working man. He is now a sad heap of a human being with nothing to look forward to. He acknowledges the damage his behaviour has done to the young people we have heard about.

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A fire union official had sex sessions with a love-struck schoolgirl he seduced through explicit texts, a court heard. A fire union official had sex sessions with a love-struck schoolgirl he seduced through explicit texts, a court heard. As reported in later editions of last night's Chronicle Paul Ahmed had been introduced to the 14-year-old by one of her friends during a Christmas holiday, Newcastle Crown Court was told. They kept in touch by swapping mobile messages, it was claimed. But Ahmed's texts became more and more steamy, the jury heard. And he used them to persuade the infatuated teenager to start a secret affair, the court was told. Ahmed, a 44-year-old official with the Fire Brigades' Union on South Tyneside, would collect the girl from the car park of The Fountain pub in South Shields and take her to a local port. It is alleged that on one occasion he fondled her breasts and on another they engaged in a sex act. Then, after taking her to his own home, Ahmed had full intercourse with the consenting girl on a sofa in the living room, said Michael Hodson, prosecuting. Ahmed was finally arrested when the girl's mother read one of the texts, confronted her daughter and contacted police. "The messages were very explicit," Mr Hodson told the court. "They were wholly designed to encourage her to behave in an indecent way with him." Ahmed, of Carnegie Close, South Shields, denies two charges of indecent assault, gross indecency, inciting the girl to commit acts of gross indecency and another serious sexual offence. All the charges date between April and June 2003. The court heard the girl, who will give evidence over a television link, kept a record of the texts in a special book. They included X-rated descriptions of the sex acts Ahmed wanted her to take part in, a boast about his own performance and evidence that he knew what he was doing was wrong, the court heard. "Nevertheless, he pressed and persuaded her by text messages that caused her infatuation with him and she was therefore willing to do what he suggested," Mr Hodson added. Ahmed even planned to video himself having sex with the girl in a caravan but in the end the meeting never happened, it was claimed. He later told police he did know the girl but that nothing inappropriate or sexual had ever taken place. The trial continues.

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A SINISTER child molester freed on parole took youngsters on car rides after hiding his past. A SINISTER child molester freed on parole took youngsters on car rides after hiding his past. Sleazy landlord Sajjad Akram was given three years behind bars in 2007 for a serious sex offence against a teenage boy in an Eldon Square car park in Newcastle. He was released a little over a year later in October 2008 with strict licence conditions designed to keep other youngsters from his clutches. But Akram flouted those restrictions to take three different children for trips in his Ford Focus. He only asked permission from their parents before one outing to a McDonalds, Newcastle Crown Court heard. And none of the mums or dads knew Akrams disturbing past, said Robert Adams, prosecuting. A pre-sentence report written by a specialist probation officer warned: Despite being subject to licence conditions, attending a sex offender group work programme, and being regularly monitored by police and probation, Akram has chosen to engage in risk-taking behaviour which he has concealed and sought unsupervised contact with children without their parents knowledge or consent. Jailing Akram, formerly of Hartington Street, Elswick, in the citys West End, for two years, Judge Brian Forster said: These are serious offences. You became known to a number of children who lived in the area where you owned a property. The children were aged eight, nine and 11 and you choose to keep their company and take them for rides. Akram, who had been living in an approved hostel after his prison release, admitted three charges of child abudctuion. None of the children concerned were touched or molested during any of the trips, the court heard. But Akrams record including not just the Eldon Square offence but an earlier indecent assault on a schoolboy in 1999 made police concerned for the youngsters safety, Mr Adams said. Clearly, he has a worrying and significant offending history, Mr Adams added. All of the latest offences happened during the school summer holiday last year and only came to light when hostel staff spotted a child in Ackrams Ford Focus. Fortunately no harm whatsoever came to any of those children, said Joe Hedworth, defending. It appears they voluntarily got into the car and got out without incident. Akram, already registered as a sex offender for life, was also made subject to a 10-year sexual offences prevention order to keep him away from children. You must understand the order requires you to avoid contact with children and young persons without a reasonable excuse, Judge Forster said. If you breach the terms you will end up staying even longer in prison.

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A senior detective yesterday demanded changes in the law to make it mandatory for social workers to notify police when sex offenders are released from custody after a student was given life for raping and murdering an 11-year-old boy.

Dominic McKilligan, 19, who had a history of sexually abusing children, was not on the official sex offenders register because a supervision order imposed from previous offences expired the day before the register was introduced.

He dodged social workers after he was released in August 1997 and 10 months later killed Wesley Neailey when the boy resisted his sexual advances.

Detective Superintendent Trevor Fordy, the officer who led the investigation, said the case showed there were shortfalls in the legislation.

He added: "If police are not informed about the release of paedophiles then it's impossible for us to exercise any form of risk management against them hurting other children. Society cannot afford to have anyone with a history of paedophilia at liberty in the community without an in-depth assessment of the risk they might pose to children or other vulnerable people. We have got to look at what is in place at the moment and see how we can make it better in the future."

McKilligan struck Wesley over the head with a wrench and dumped the body by a quiet road near the village of Healey, Northumberland.

He then led the police to the site three weeks later after telling detectives Wesley's death had been an accident.

Following the verdict at Newcastle crown court, Christopher Knox, for the prosecution, told Mr Justice Bennett that McKilligan was convicted in August 1994 of gross indecency against four boys aged between seven and 11 in Bournemouth.

After inviting children to play games, he tortured them, in one case beating a boy with an iron bar.

Rumours in the playgrounds of local schools led to one of the most wide-ranging child sex abuse investigations in the history of the Dorset constabulary.

McKilligan served a three-year supervision order, but due to the timing of the previous conviction he missed being added to the sex offenders register by 24-hours.

McKilligan managed to dupe social workers when he moved from the south coast to a secure unit in the north-east, side-stepping the authorities in Bournemouth, Durham and Newcastle as his release date came closer.

When he was discharged from the unit for young sex offenders in Durham in November 1997, social workers lost track of him.

McKilligan befriended Wesley in the weeks before the murder. A shy and trusting boy who was thought to be mildly epileptic, Wesley visited McKilligan at his home in the west end of Newcastle, the court heard.

On June 5, Wesley waved goodbye to his mother and rode to see McKilligan.

He was caught when a former care worker rang to tell detectives about his past, and a cheque made out to Wesley was found in his flat.

Mr Fordy emphasised that Wesley might still be alive if his supervision order had ended on September 1 1997 - the day the register was established. His whereabouts would have been known to police and officers would have been free to check on him when they chose.

The NSPCC called for a national network of services to help stop children from becoming paedophiles.

Its director of child protection, Neil Hunt, said: "Dominic McKilligan was already a seriously disturbed boy by 14.

"He was in local authority care and assessed as a very grave risk to children. A full investigation should take place into whether this tragic death could have been averted. Too many young abusers are slipping through the net. Their behaviour and problems are not recognised early enough, they are left untreated and their victims are left unprotected."