Latest Offenders Sunderland

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A SEX offender put himself at risk of a third spell behind bars in less than ten years after flying to Poland to visit a girlfriend without informing police. Frank Smith also breached a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and his notification requirements by changing his bank details and adopting aliases while using the internet, again without telling a police monitoring officer. The now 37-year-old served a three-year prison sentence, imposed at Teesside Crown Court, in May 2012, for grooming and having sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl, as well as for downloading indecent images of children. He was also made subject to lifetime registration as a sex offender and an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order. Within months, however, he moved from the family home in Blackhall Colliery, County Durham, to Town End Farm, Sunderland, after finding work at the nearby Nissan motor manufacturing works, but failed to tell monitoring officers. He also uploaded 17 indecent images of children to be viewed by internet chat room site users. In conversations with those users, recovered by police, Smith boasted of having had sexual relations with girls aged 13 and 15, the latter being the reason for his 2012 prison sentence. Smith was jailed for 32 months for those offences at Durham Crown Court, in November 2016. Laura Doherty, prosecuting, told Newcastle Crown Court, police became aware he had travelled to Gdansk, in Poland, in October 2020, without notifying police. It was also discovered he had used online alias names, one for an Xbox profile, and changed his bank account. When interviewed he admitted having visited his girlfriend in Poland and said he had not used any of the aliases for more than three days but conceded he had not informed police of any of them. Smith, of High Street East, Sunderland, admitted three counts of failing to comply with a SHPO. Barry Robson, for Smith, said a probation report recommended the defendant should be subject to a rehabilitative course, which would serve the public better than a short prison sentence, during which he would not receive the same assistance. Recorder Richard Wright QC agreed, saying the alternative would be a short custodial sentence. He told Smith: The effect is I couldnt order you to do the work that I can on a community sentence. Imposing the 18-month order, he said Smith should undergo a 40-day programme with the Probation Service. But he told the defendant: I make this clear. I have, effectively, given you an opportunity because I consider it in the best interests of the public to deal with you in this way. Should you fail to comply, there wont be any further chances.

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A CONVICTED sex offender has appeared in court after having unauthorised contact with young children. Matthew McCormick admitted breaching the terms of his sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) after repeatedly visiting his step-sister when her children were present. The 25-year-old failed to notify the relevant authorities that he was regularly visiting her over a three-month period. Teesside Crown Court heard how McCormick attended her home on numerous occasions between November 1 last year and January 31. Robin Turton, prosecuting, said the defendant was made subject of a five-year SHPO following his conviction for sexual assault in 2015. He said McCormick had breached his order on two previous occasions in 2016 and January last year. Mr Turton added: "On a number of occasions, he visited the address of his step-sister and her two young children and he said she was aware of his conviction." McCormick, of Ridley Terrace, Sunderland, pleaded guilty to breach of his SHPO when he appeared at magistrates's court. In mitigation, Martin Scarborough, said his client had always maintained that his step-sister knew about his conviction despite her initially denying the fact. Mr Scarborough said McCormick was always supervised during the visits and his pregnant girlfriend attended with him on occasion. He added: "There was no risk of him offending because his step-sister was aware of the order and he was supervised at all times." McCormick spent ten weeks on remand, the equivalent of a 20-week prison sentence, he added. Judge Deborah Sherwin passed a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years. He was also made subject to a new five-year SHPO order. As a 19-year-old he kissed a 12-year-old girl while they were on a playing field in Hartlepool in front of her brother and sister and his own brother last year. McCormick was found guilty of sexual assault after a four-day trial at Teesside Crown Court in April, 2015. He was given a 12-month community order with supervision and banned from having contact with under-16s for five years. The court heard McCormick, formerly of West View Road, Hartlepool, suffers from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

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Asked whether he raped his 15-year-old victim, footballer replies, 'No, I wish I f***ing wish I did' Former England footballer Adam Johnson has been filmed laughing in prison and joking about his conviction for sexual activity with a 15-year-old fan. Johnson was found guilty last year of sexual activity with a child after meeting with the girl in his Range Rover in County Durham in January 2015. In footage obtained by The Sun, the 29-year-old is seen sitting in what appears to be a laundry room at Moorland Prison in South Yorkshire. Another inmate asks him: Its not like you f***ing raped her or owt like that? No, I wish I f***cking did for six years, he replies, laughing. The former Sunderland and Manchester City winger can also be heard saying in the video that he believes he was brought to court and handed a long sentence because he was in the public eye. At the start of his trial at Bradford Crown Court, Johnson admitted one charge of sexual activity with a child, relating to kissing her. He also admitted a charge of meeting a child with intent following grooming her. Johnson lost a challenge for permission to appeal against his conviction last month and Court of Appeal judges also rejected his bid for a reduction in his six-year jail sentence. In 2016, the footballer was also arrested for possessing images of bestiality on his laptop. The Ministry of Justice declined to comment on the footage captured at Moorland Prison.