Latest Offenders Stoke-on-Trent

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A convicted sex offender has been jailed after striking up a relationship with a 'vulnerable' woman he met on Facebook.

Scott Bray, 24, was handed a 12-month suspended jail sentence and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) in July for three offences of making child abuse images. But he breached the SHPO by failing to tell police within three days that he had a phone and an Xbox games console.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard Bray used the phone to contact a 23-year-old woman with learning difficulties who has become his girlfriend.

He also breached the notification requirements of the sex offenders' register by using three social media accounts with different names without informing the authorities. And he was in breach of the suspended sentence by staying at an address in the Potteries without prior permission from his offender manager. Now Bray has been jailed for 16 months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.

Prosecutor Ben Lawrence said on January 4 police visited an address in Stoke-on-Trent where Bray was living with his new girlfriend. Mr Lawrence said: "He was twice asked for a phone and he denied having one. Eventually he admitted he did have one. He had it from at least December 31, more than three days.

"It was that phone he used to communicate with the vulnerable woman. In his police interview Bray said he used the phone since mid November.

The court heard police visited his home again on January 18 and recovered an Xbox games console. Mr Lawrence said: "His grandmother was spoken to. She revealed he had been using social media accounts in three different names. That put him in breach of the notification requirements.

"She also confirmed he had been speaking online to the vulnerable woman, his girlfriend, using those accounts and names. He was interviewed about it and agreed he was in breach of the SHPO."

Bray, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to two charges of breaching a SHPO; failing to comply with the notification requirements of the sex offenders' register; and breaching a suspended prison sentence.

Rob Holt, mitigating, said: "He says he is genuinely sorry and remorseful for his behaviour. He has learned his lessons and won't be making the same mistakes again."

He said Bray met the vulnerable woman on Facebook and did not target her. He said his client had been assaulted in custody and is suffering from anxiety and depression.

Mr Holt added: "He has not given proper regard to the order in detail and the level of consideration that needs to be given to these orders. It will not be repeated, he tells me."

Recorder Julian Taylor said: "I regard these as very serious breaches." Bray remains subject to the 10 year SHPO and is on the sex offenders' register for the same period.

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Pervert pensioner Stephen Bradbury has been jailed after he was caught with hundreds of child abuse photos - including one of a baby girl being raped. The 75-year-old sex offender was arrested after police visited his Bucknall home in January last year.

Officers could see him trying to conceal a device as they looked through his window. He came clean and told the officer there were indecent images on his iPad.

It was analysed and contained hundreds of pictures at category A, B and C. There was also an extreme pornographic image and an one of an 18-month-old toddler in considerable distress as she was being raped.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard he has previous convictions include indecent assault; gross indecency with a child; indecent assault on a girl under 14; and possession of indecent images of children. Now Bradbury has been jailed for 20 months.

Prosecutor Mark Brookes said police analysed the iPad and it contained 126 still images and 75 movies at category A - the most serious; 35 still images and eight movies at category B; and 34 still images and six movies at category C.

Bradbury, of no fixed address but formerly of Fellbrook Lane, Bucknall, pleaded guilty to three offences of making indecent photographs of children; possession of a prohibited image of a child; and possession of extreme pornography.

Paul Cliff, mitigating, said the case did not involve any onward distribution of images. And he said there was a relatively modest amount of images compared to other similar cases.

He said Bradbury suffers with chronic emphysema, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, diabetes and arthritis. Mr Cliff added that Bradbury admitted his offending to the police and pleaded guilty.

Judge Sally Hancox said: "You were asked if there was anything you had not declared. You responded, 'There is child porn on it. I am going back to prison, aren't I'?

"You accept that you have an ongoing attraction to children. The children were disturbingly young. One is a child aged 18 months being raped. She is clearly in extreme distress."

Judge Hancox added that Bradbury will serve half the sentence before he can be considered for release by the parole board but the 'likelihood is he will remain in custody for some time'.

She made him the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for 10 years and he will be on the sex offenders' register for the same period.

DC Darren Bithell, from the sex offender management unit, said: "We welcome the sentence imposed upon sex offender Stephen Bradbury. He is a person that poses a risk to children and to the public overall.

"We will always investigate and seek to bring to justice those who commit sexual related offences. Safeguarding victims is also of paramount importance to us."

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Architect David Baines-Davies has been sentenced after taping a secret camera to a sink in his workplace toilets. The 50-year-old married father-of-two admitted to a charge of voyeurism following the incident at Hewitt & Carr in Cheadle.

Baines-Davies's boss discovered the camera after it fell to the floor while he washing his hands, and he reported the matter to the police. Video footage on the camera showed Baines-Davies fixing it under the sink, but nobody else was filmed.

Baines-Davies, of Chesterwood Road, Burslem, was subsequently sacked by Hewitt & Carr. Magistrates at North Staffordshire Justice Centre have now handed him a community sentence following his guilty plea.

Prosecutor Zaine Riaz told the court that employees at the firm had expressed 'concern and disgust' after the camera had been discovered, in October 2020.

Mark Holder, mitigating, said that at the time of the incident, his client had been 'going through a breakdown' due to stress.

Mr Holder said: "He has struggled to find a reason why the offence was committed. It was about as unsophisticated as it gets. The only images on the camera were of the defendant at home and the defendant taping it to the sink. It wasn't pointing in the right direction, and it fell off straight away."

Mr Holder said Baines-Davies's family had suffered after his guilty plea was publicised in January, and he had been dismissed from his new job. Since then Baines-Davies has found alternative employment.

The court heard that the offence was aggravated by the fact that it was a breach of trust. Baines-Davies had no previous convictions.

Magistrates told the defendant that voyeurism was a serious crime. They handed him an 18-month community order with a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement, and ordered him to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.

He will also have to sign the sex offender register, and pay £185 in costs and a £114 surcharge. The court also ordered the destruction of the camera.

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Convicted rapist Adem Kilincarslan breached the Sex Offenders' Register by staying in the same household as a girl - without notifying police. The 44-year-old is on the Sex Offenders' Register for the rest of his life after being convicted of rape in 2010.

He was living at an address with a woman and two children which the police knew about. But he did not inform them when a girl twice stayed at the address.

Now Kilincarslan has been handed a 12-month community order at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.

Prosecutor Martyn Walsh said: "A female had been staying at the address with the defendant's partner and her two other children. The police were aware of the two other children. But he had not declared on at least two occasions that the girl had stayed at the premises. That put him in breach of the requirements."

Kilincarslan, of Beverley Drive, Bentilee, pleaded guilty to failing to comply with the notification requirements of the Sex Offenders' Register.

Stuart Muldoon, mitigating, said: "She arrived unexpectedly and his partner allowed him to stay. That decision was nothing to do with him."

Kilincarslan has previous for breaking court rules after failing to complete his registration as a sex offender.

But Mr Muldoon added: "Since November 2021 he has registered twice annually as he should and has fully complied with all aspects of the order. He has taken the order seriously as far as contact with young adults and children is concerned."

The community order includes a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement and 40-hours unpaid work.

Judge Graeme Smith told him: "You know full well that you need to comply with these notification requirements and it is troubling that this is now the fourth occasion you have breached them."

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A convicted sex offender is back behind bars after he repeatedly ignored a court order. Pervert David Dingwall Coughtrie has a long history with dozens of offences on his record.

The 54-year-old was last given a 'final chance' in 2021 after he used a fake name to contact a schoolboy on the PlayStation.

But police discovered that he had deleted WhatsApp messages and an image of a child after officers from Staffordshire Police’s Sexual Offender Management Unit (SOMU) visited his home on December 12 last year.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard he did not declare having access to any other devices but a search following his arrest uncovered a games console and a tablet.

Now Coughtrie, of Etruria, has been sentenced to two years in prison. He pleaded guilty to three counts of breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and failing to comply with notification requirements.

Coughtrie has been subject to an indefinite SHPO since 2016. Among the cases involving Coughtrie that The Sentinel and StokeonTrentLive have reported include:

• Using a fake name and giving his number to a teenage boy after they met playing Grand Theft Auto in 2020.
• Using search terms such as ‘pre-teen models’ and ‘virgin solo models’ on a phone he was not allowed to own in 2019.
• Hiding mobile phones beneath his bed in 2016.
• Possessing indecent images of children in 2005.

Speaking after the most recent case, Detective Sergeant Laura Ames, of the force’s SOMU, said: “We take the management of sex offenders extremely seriously and will pursue and prosecute those who choose not to comply.

“Coughtrie rightly has very strict requirements that he is expected to abide by, and he has shown a complete disregard and lack of respect for them on a number of occasions. This sentencing should serve as a deterrent for others.”

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Paul Harrison, from Biddulph, is on the Sex Offenders' Register and isn't allowed to be on his own with any child

Sex offender Paul Harrison has broken a court order - after being caught alone with a child. The 30-year-old is subject to a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) after previously being jailed for 45 months for sexual activity with a child.

But he breached the SHPO by being unsupervised with a child. Now Harrison has been sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.

The court heard that Harrison had earlier contacted a police risk assessor to say that he was now in a relationship with a woman who has two children under the age of 16.

Prosecutor Mark Brookes said: "The defendant, his partner and two children attended a holiday home in North Wales between September 2 and 4. His partner had to leave with one of the children, leaving the defendant in control of the other. There was a two-day period where he was unsupervised. A complaint was made and the defendant was arrested. One of the children was ill. His partner took her back. The defendant should have left with her."

Harrison, of Chaffinch Drive, Biddulph, pleaded guilty to three charges of breaching the SHPO.

Martin Bloor, mitigating, said: "She was aware of the SHPO. Mr Harrison had discussed that with her before they formed the relationship. He fully complied with the order. This is his first breach. There is no suggestion of any substantive offences, no contact offences."

The suspended sentence includes a 32-day rehabilitation activity requirement and 100 hours unpaid work.

Recorder Julian Taylor told Harrison: "You had permission to be where you were. Had your partner been there you would not have been in breach. You should have left when she did."

Harrison must also pay £460 costs. The SHPO is in place until April 5, 2027 and the defendant remains on the Sex Offenders' Register.

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A 'predatory' paedophile sent a sexually explicit picture of himself to an undercover copper posing as a schoolgirl. Kevan Rose was caught after he sent a picture of his genitals to someone he believed to be a 12-year-old child.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard that the 34-year-old, of Percy Street, Hanley, spoke to the 'girl' in an online chatroom on the website Kik under the usernames Daddy K and Open-MindedDaddy88. He also engaged in sexual chat with the decoy.

Prosecutor Anthony Longworth said: "The undercover operator had set up a false profile for a 12-year-old child. On August 10, 2021, the defendant, using the names DaddyK, Chris and the Kik ID OpenMindedDaddy88, made contact saying he was a 33-year-old man, from Stafford, and said his name was Chris on the instant messenger platform in a chat room known as a channel.

"On August 12, 2021 the defendant was told he was chatting with a 12-year-old female child. After being made aware of the apparent age, the defendant sent a picture of his erect penis and confirmed the photo was himself.

"He began some sexual chat and stopped when he suspected that the other profile was not real. It was established that the account was registered to this defendant in his flat on Percy Street, in Hanley, and the phone number was found to belong to the defendant.

"He was arrested on October 5, 2021 and re-arrested in respect of other matters on that date. His phone was seized from him and this phone was examined and found to be on it was an image of an erect penis that was the same as that sent to the undercover operator."

Rose is currently serving a two-and-a-half year sentence for breaching a sexual risk order; failing to comply with the notification requirements of the sex offenders' register; and doing an act intending to pervert the course of public justice.

He pleaded guilty to failing to comply with notification requirements and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child. Deputy Circuit Judge David Fletcher adjourned the case for sentencing on December 2.

DC Nathalie Connolly, of Staffordshire Police's Sex Offender Management Unit, previously described Rose as a 'deceitful and predatory paedophile who knows no boundaries'. She added: "His grossly offensive and abhorrent fantasies involving sexual acts with children have impacted and traumatised many innocent people."

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 A sex offender who breached a court order when he masqueraded on Snapchat as 'Joker' will not spend any extra time behind bars. Paedophile Jake Bull was jailed in 2015 for sex offences and told he must sign the sex offender's register for life.

But the 28-year-old flouted rules which meant he had to tell police of any aliases he used, as well as when he moved house. The offences took place before Bull was locked up for robbery in May.

He has now been sentenced to 28 months in prison for breaching the court's requirements but it will run concurrently to his ongoing jail term. It means he will not spend any extra time behind bars despite breaking the law again.

 The convicted sex offender is now due for release from prison in June 2024, StokeonTrentLive reports. A judge heard how Bull has repeatedly broken court rules after being sentenced for sex offences.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court was told he failed to provide his bank card details to police, did not tell officers he was calling himself Joker on Snapchat and did not notify them when he moved house.

He moved from Newcastle Street, in Burslem, to Zamenhof Grove, in Smallthorne. Bull also offered cash to his former landlord so he could lie to police and say his tenant was still living at the address.

The defendant is already on the sex offenders register for the rest of his life. It follows an extended sentence of six years and three months handed down in 2015 for four offences of engaging in sexual activity with a child.

Now Bull - who was jailed for 50 months in May following a knifepoint robbery - has been sentenced to 28 months in prison which will run concurrently to his present sentence. Stuart Muldoon, mitigating, said Bull is due to be released from his current sentence on June 13, 2024.

He said: "At the time he was living a very chaotic lifestyle. He was homeless and using monkey dust. His position is now very different. He is now a trusted prisoner. He is a mentor for new prisoners entering the prison establishment."

He said the defendant wants to be a counsellor to help people using drugs on his release. Mr Muldoon added: "He is a relatively young man. He has an opportunity to come out of prison and become a person that society would welcome, not a person that society would want incarcerated."

Judge Sally Hancox said: "You made a request of your landlord to provide the police with false information on your behalf indicating that you were still resident at an address when you were clearly not and you had left some time earlier.

"At the time you were living a chaotic lifestyle. You were homeless and using drugs, monkey dust in particular, the cause of so much difficulty for those who use it in North Staffordshire."

Bull, of no fixed address, admitted three counts of failing to comply with the notification requirements of the Sex Offenders' Register and one count of doing an act intending to pervert the course of public justice.

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Sex offender John Bentley has 'lost everything' after being released from jail with no support. The 45-year-old was placed on the register after being convicted of possessing indecent images of children on September 3, 2020 and making indecent images of children on March 11 this year.

Prosecutor Emma Thompson told North Staffordshire Justice Centre the defendant was released from prison 'with no support; on August 11 for an allegation of assault.

He was then given a place at Hanley's Macari Centre but failed to tell police about his new address.

Miss Thompson said: "Due to him being on the sex offenders' register, the defendant had three days to notify the police of an address but he failed to do that. He failed to notify them of his address within three days.

The defendant, of The Macari Centre, Hanley, was arrested. He said he was released but had nowhere to stay before he found a bed at The Macari Centre. He said he had no excuse and simply forgot to register his address, adding 'it will not happen again'.

The court heard the defendant previously breached the notification requirements earlier this year by failing to sign his annual registration.

Steve Hennessy, mitigating, said the defendant was on remand for six months on an allegation of assault and was then acquitted at trial. He was released and was homeless.

Mr Hennessy said: "He had lost everything. It took him a day or two to find the Macari Centre. The court may have sympathy for someone released from custody with no assistance.

"He was located at The Macari Centre without difficulty. He was not trying to avoid the authorities at all.

"The previous breach was the annual registration. There is no suggestion of the commission of further substantive offences."

Magistrates adjourned the case for a pre-sentence report to be prepared on Bentley. He will be sentenced on October 4 and his bail was extended.

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Sex offender Scott Simpson is back behind bars after he met a woman with two children on two occasions. The 30-year-old was made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) in 2014 after he engaged in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

But he breached the order by meeting up with a woman and her two young daughters, aged six and three, on two occasions. And he hid his internet enabled mobile phone and failed to present it to police for inspection.

Now Simpson has been jailed for 23 months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court. Prosecutor Antony Longworth said the defendant and his partner became friends with a woman who had two daughters, aged six and three.

They met up on February 12 and the woman and her children went back to Simpson's home. Mr Longworth said: "They had a pleasant time."

The defendant left his bag in her car and she arranged to return it to his home on February 19. Mr Longworth said: "He was engaging and played with the children. She was not made aware of his sexual offences or the existence of the SHPO or she would not have had anything to do with the defendant."

Police visited the defendant's home on March 31. Mr Longworth said: "He told them he did not have a mobile phone but used his partner's phone. An officer called the number and it went to the voicemail of Scott Simpson. He was asked where the phone was. He disclosed that the phone was in the bin area. The police found the phone in the bin area."

Simpson, of Hartshill Road, Hartshill, pleaded guilty to three charges of breaching a SHPO.

Martin Bloor, mitigating, said the defendant was not forthcoming with the police about the phone or with the woman about his past. But he said Simpson did not offend between 2014 and 2019 and has proved he can remain offence free and make progress.

Mr Bloor added: "He accepts he has underlying issues. A short prison sentence would not deal with those issues. They may be better managed and dealt with in the community."

But Judge Graeme Smith jailed Simpson telling him: "You are a high risk of re-offending, a high risk of causing serious harm and you have responded poorly to previous supervision."

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A convicted child sex offender who finds it "impossible to tell the truth" posed as a paramedic to accompany a sick woman to hospital, leaving her "terrified" when his real identity emerged. John Lightfoot, 52, broke a court order when he pretended to be a medic called Paul, a court heard.

He took her to seek medical help and escorted her home in a taxi. The criminal even lied to a priest and repeated claims he was Paul when he was spotted with the woman.

The incident on November 12 last year left the woman, who was a victim of domestic violence, feeling 'terrified', StokeonTrentLive report ed. Lightfoot was jailed for two-and-a-half years after magistrates convicted him of failing to comply with notification requirements of the sex offenders' register.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard Lightfoot - who was convicted of a child sexual assault in 2013 - was previously handed a two-year suspended sentence for breaching the terms of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) after going by the name of Jay Maddox without informing the police.

Despite registering that name with officials, Lightfoot was caught out again when he used the alias 'Paul' at the pub in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent. Mark Brookes, prosecuting, said: "A domestic violence victim was in the pub and he introduced himself as a paramedic called Paul.

"She became unwell and was taken to hospital. The defendant went with her and returned from the hospital to her address in a taxi.

"She resides in a property run by a charity. He was seen telling a priest if she came back to his house he would look after her. He was trying to manipulate her.

"On December 3, 2021, officers attended the defendants home and recovered documents concerning a matter of domestic violence. He told officers he did not know who she was.

"In February he was arrested at his address." In a statement read to the court, the victim said: "He made me feel uncomfortable in the taxi. I felt anxious and terrified of him and I dont want any contact with him."

Stuart Muldoon, mitigating, said: "He knows he is going to go to custody and his concern is his mother who is 92-years-old. She has suffered a stroke and is in the Royal Stoke.

"He has been her carer and will be on his release. His concern is that she may no longer be around." Sentencing, Judge David Fletcher told Lightfoot: "You are a man who simply finds lying a very easy thing to do. You find it impossible to tell the truth.

"This offence is extremely worrying and the victim was clearly vulnerable. You lied to her. You repeated that to a priest when you went back to where she was living. This is a deliberate failure to comply with requirements."

Lightfoot, of Fielding Street, Stoke, was also handed a restraining order and will remain on a sexual harm prevention order.

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A 'bankrupt' ex-soldier from Staffordshire who abused two schoolchildren has been locked up. Former tank commander Patrick Elkin's offending only came to light when his two young victims revealed all to their parents.

The sex offender, who is now bankrupt after building up a 41,000 debt, served in Northern Ireland and the First Gulf War. Elkin, 64, has since been branded a 'monster' by the mum of one of his victims.

The mum went on to say his vile crimes could 'never be forgiven'. It comes after he was handed a four-year prison sentence for grooming the children and then sexually abusing them, StokeonTrentLive reports.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard how 'lonely' Elkin was arrested in 2020 after the children bravely spoke out about their ordeals. Elkin, of Longbrook Avenue, Blurton, later admitted sexual activity with a boy under 16 and two counts of sexual assault of a girl under 13.

The boy said Elkin had touched his private area a number of times. The abuse stopped when he sent Elkin a message saying he did not like it. In a statement read to the court, the schoolboy said he might want to punch the defendant if he saw him again.

Elkin's second victim told how he had touched her private area on more than one occasion. She also revealed that he had squeezed her breasts once, prosecutor Tom Sherrington said.

The girl said she is worried he has done it to someone else or might do it in the future. Her mum added: "What he has done can never be forgiven. He is nothing but a monster."

The former soldier was arrested on December 18, 2020. Barry White, defending, said Elkin - who has no previous convictions - fully accepts what he has done. Mr White said: "He expresses genuine remorse, shame, and his words to me, disgust at what he did.

"He has not sought to bring this matter to a trial. He is now a much more lonely man. He does recognise the impact his actions have had on the victims."

He said the defendant will lose all his possessions if sent to prison. He added that Elkin has a number of health conditions and recently became bankrupt after accruing a 41,000 debt.

Mr White added: "He understands this a very serious matter and the custody threshold is passed. I do ask, if there is any way this matter can be suspended I would encourage the court to consider that."

Judge Graeme Smith said: "You have taken those children's innocence. They were very brave to speak out in the way they did.

"Your actions have had a significant impact on the lives of the two children and will no doubt continue to have for much of their adult life."

Elkin must serve two thirds of the sentence before he is released. He was made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and placed on the sex offenders' register indefinitely.

Speaking after the case Detective Constable Tracy Adams, of Staffordshire Polices Child Protection and Exploitation Team (CPET), said: I would like to commend the victims bravery in coming forward to report what happened to them.

Im pleased that the judge handed Elkin a custodial sentence for his offending and hope that it provides some comfort for the victims and their families.

I would like to encourage anyone who may be a victim of sexual abuse to come forward and report it to us, regardless of when the abuse occurred, as we will do all we can to support you and bring offenders to justice.

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A sex offender arrested for spying on mums changing babies' nappies in a supermarket has been jailed. Pervert Paul Thomas was made the subject of an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) after grooming and meeting a child.

But, as reported by StokeonTrentLive, the 41-year-old was then arrested in October 2020 after watching parents in the baby changing area clean up their children for his own sexual gratification.

And during police interview, he disclosed that he had been in a relationship with a woman who had three children, including two under the age of 16. As a result, he breached the order by staying overnight at her address without informing the authorities.

Prosecutor Harinderpal Dhami told Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court how Thomas disclosed he had been in a relationship with the mum who had no idea of his offending history. On October 4 he handed his phone to police and he disclosed to his probation officer he had deleted messages received from the Plenty of Fish dating site.

Mr Dhami said: "His phone was analysed and there were 6,529 web entries that had been deleted. There was no suggestion that material being sought was indecent images of children.

"He also deleted WhatsApp messages. There were 507 internet search items deleted. It seemed to be indicative that the defendant searched for his own name and details."

Thomas, of no fixed address, admitted breaching a SHPO and two charges of failing to comply with notification requirements of the sex offenders' register. Stuart Muldoon, mitigating, said: "He is sorry for what he has done. The remorse is genuine.

"He did not wish there to be any interference by the authorities in that relationship. That is why he did not disclose it to the authorities."

Judge Sally Hancox jailed Thomas for two years. She said: "You formed a friendship with a woman who had three daughters, two were under 16 at the time. You stayed overnight with that woman at her home, she being in complete ignorance of your previous offending record.

"You failed to comply with the notification requirements in that you failed to tell those who monitor you that your address had changed. There was no wrongdoing on your part towards her or her family.

"You breached the SHPO by deleting your internet usage and search history on your mobile phone. You remain a risk. Thankfully, nothing found to be deleted was a concern. It was still a deliberate breach of your SHPO."

Speaking after the case, Police Constable Sarah Gifford said: Thomas thought he could lie and deceive police about his activities and cover his tracks. Im glad he has been handed a custodial sentence and hope it goes to show how we continue to monitor sexual offenders in order to bring them to justice.

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A Scholar Green man has admitted possession of indecent images. Christopher Shaw (28) of Drenfell Road, Scholar Green, appeared before Cheshire Magistrates Court, sitting in Crewe on 7th July, and admitted between 11th September 2015 and 19th June 2021, in Scholar Green, he made 69 category C indecent photographs of children and that between the same dates was in possession of 83 indecent images of children. He also admitted making 10 category A indecent photographs of children and four category B indecent photographs. He was required to register with police until the case what is dealt with, reporting to Crewe police station. He was remanded on conditional bail until his next hearing in Magistrates court on 8th August at Chester Magistrates Court for sentence, expected to take 30 minutes. The court asked for a pre-sentence report to be prepared. He is prohibited from using any device capable of accessing the internet unless it has the capacity to retain and display the history of internet use. Which capacity is at all times enabled; make the device available on request for inspection by a police officer and not to delete internet history.

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Police are hunting for a registered sex offender who could be in the Potteries. Today Staffordshire Police have issued a public appeal as officers look to track down 27-year-old Perry Wheatley.

The force has issued a photograph and description of Wheatley as officers have appealed for anyone who knows his whereabouts to get in touch. A spokesman for Staffordshire Police said: "He is a registered sex offender and wanted for breaching his sex offender notification requirements. He has connections in Stoke-on-Trent and Tamworth."

He is described as a white man who is of slim build and 5ft 8ins tall. Anyone who has seen him - or knows where he is - is being asked to contact Staffordshire Police.

Those with information can contact the force via Facebook, Twitter, or by calling 101. Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.