Search results for Warrington

Description

THIS is the face of a smiling pervert who has a history of flashing people from his bedroom window.

It was reported this week that serial flasher Christopher Barrett has been locked up after offending again by exposing his genitals.

The 65-year-old was given numerous chances and warnings by the court that if he carried on, he would end up in prison.

That is exactly where he currently is after being sentenced at Chester Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, January 12, after admitting two further exposure charges.

He also pleaded guilty to a count of breaching his sex offender notification and registration requirements, as well as breaching a suspended sentence.

Now, Cheshire Police has released a custody photo of a smiling Barrett.

Tanya Berridge-Burley, prosecuting, explained how the defendant exposed himself on two consecutive days in Warrington on September 20 and 21 last year.

In doing so, he intentionally exposed his genitals intending that someone would see them and be caused alarm or distress.

He also failed without reasonable excuse to comply with his sex offender registration requirements with the police by not periodically notifying them.

These conditions were imposed when he was slapped with a sentence of 20 weeks in prison suspended for 24 months by the same court in December 2020 for an offence of exposure.

His latest offending put him in breach of this sentence, which was activated as immediate custody.

He was handed the suspended sentence after he exposed himself to a dog walker while stood in his bedroom window.

The court at the time heard that the dog owner was walking her pet outside Barrett's home with her cousin when she spotted the pervert naked and pressed up against a window 'in a star shape' with his arms in the air.

Despite having been seen, he remained stood naked in the window for several minutes.

Speaking in court, the victim said she was ‘shocked, disgusted and frankly devastated’, adding that the offence affected her mental health in terms of giving her panic attacks.

Another previous conviction in March 2018 saw him video passers-by on two occasions while performing sex acts in the same window and waving to get the attention of women outside.

Before sentencing in December 2020, district judge Nicholas Sanders said: “Whatever your problem is, it has to stop.

“If you commit any other offences or fail to comply with the requirements, the starting point is that you will go to prison.”

This is exactly what magistrates decided to do, remarking that the offence was committed during the period of a suspended sentence and highlighting the defendant’s ‘appalling’ record of similar offences.

Barrett, of Mead Road in Padgate, was sentenced to 72 weeks in prison.

He is also the subject of sex offender notification requirements for 10 years and a sexual harm prevention order for the same length of time.

This prohibits him from exposing his genitals and underwear in sight of public or masturbating in sight of anyone without their consent.

In addition, magistrates ordered that the defendant pay costs to the Crown Prosecution Service of £120 and a surcharge to fund victim services of £187.

Description

A PERVERT with a history of flashing people by exposing his genitals has been locked up after offending again.

Serial flasher Christopher Barrett has previously been hauled before the courts for standing in his bedroom window while naked and waving.

The 65-year-old was given numerous chances and warnings by the court that if he carried on, he would end up in prison.

That is exactly where he currently is after being sentenced at Chester Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, January 12, after admitting two further exposure charges.

He also pleaded guilty to a count of breaching his sex offender notification and registration requirements, as well as breaching a suspended sentence.

Tanya Berridge-Burley, prosecuting, explained how the defendant exposed himself on two consecutive days in Warrington on September 20 and 21 last year.

In doing so, he intentionally exposed his genitals intending that someone would see them and be caused alarm or distress.

He also failed without reasonable excuse to comply with his sex offender registration requirements with the police by not periodically notifying them.

These conditions were imposed when he was slapped with a sentence of 20 weeks in prison suspended for 24 months by the same court in December 2020 for an offence of exposure.

His latest offending put him in breach of this sentence, which was activated as immediate custody.

He was handed the suspended sentence after he exposed himself to a dog walker while stood in his bedroom window.

The court at the time heard that the dog owner was walking her pet outside Barrett's home with her cousin when she spotted the pervert naked and pressed up against a window 'in a star shape' with his arms in the air.

Despite having been seen, he remained stood naked in the window for several minutes.

Speaking in court, the victim said she was ‘shocked, disgusted and frankly devastated’, adding that the offence affected her mental health in terms of giving her panic attacks.

Another previous conviction in March 2018 saw him video passers-by on two occasions while performing sex acts in the same window and waving to get the attention of women outside.

Before sentencing in December 2020, district judge Nicholas Sanders said: “Whatever your problem is, it has to stop.

“If you commit any other offences or fail to comply with the requirements, the starting point is that you will go to prison.”

This is exactly what magistrates decided to do, remarking that the offence was committed during the period of a suspended sentence and highlighting the defendant’s ‘appalling’ record of similar offences.

Barrett, of Mead Road in Padgate, was sentenced to 72 weeks in prison.

He is also the subject of sex offender notification requirements for 10 years and a sexual harm prevention order for the same length of time.

This prohibits him from exposing his genitals and underwear in sight of public or masturbating in sight of anyone without their consent.

In addition, magistrates ordered that the defendant pay costs to the Crown Prosecution Service of £120 and a surcharge to fund victim services of £187.

Description

A police officer who drunkenly groped two colleagues at a work Christmas party has avoided jail but has been ordered to sign the Sex Offender Register.  

Gareth Duggan, 38, grabbed the bottom of one officer and put his hand underneath the dress of another as they were celebrating the festive season at a nightclub in Chester last year.

Despite a reputation as a rumoured predator, the shocked victims were accused of making up the allegations to get a promotion when they reported the incident.   

Duggan was sentenced to a 32-week suspended sentence and ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and 35 days of rehabilitative activity after admitting two counts of sexual assault at Warrington Magistrates' Court. 

He will also sign the Sex Offender Register for seven years and pay each victim £1,000 compensation. 

Duggan is expected to resign from the police force before a disciplinary meeting in January, at which he expects to be fired. 

He had been a police officer with the North Wales force for 15 years when the incident happened in Revolution night club in Chester. 

Alex Morgan, prosecuting, said the Christmas party had brought police officers from a number of areas together. 

'During the time in the bar the defendant touched the bottom of one of the complainants and the touching was deemed to be sexual. Prior to that the defendant had put his arm around her waist which made her feel uncomfortable.

'A short while after the defendant stood between her and another female.

'The defendant's arm was placed around her waist prior to going around her bottom. It was deliberate. She could feel his fingers go into the crack of her bottom. She was able to feel the pressure of his fingers through her clothes and through her underwear.

'She was shocked as a result of the incident and kicked out at his ankle with her foot to get him to stop.

Mr Morgan also described a second attack on another colleague that happened during the party.  

'Her colleague also recalled a sexual assault from the same night out. He held onto her for what seemed like a long time and squeezed her waist making her feel very uncomfortable.

'She told him to stop on a number of occasions. She made it very clear she was not joking.

'As he had his hand around her waist he put his face up to her neck and made kissing noises. His hand then went between her legs and underneath her dress and touched her vagina over clothing,' the prosecutor said. 

'His hand brushed across the cheek of her bottom in the area of her vagina. She was not wearing any tights or leggings at the time but did have underwear on.

'It made her extremely upset and uncomfortable.'

His wife and the two victims were watching from the public gallery.

In a statement one of the women - a detective who deals with rape victims - said: 'When he put his arm around me I was shocked but when he touched me in that way I was disgusted. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to tell someone but I didn't want to ruin everyone's night.'

The detective said she always encouraged sex assault victims to make complaints but she now knew how 'draining' it was to do so.

She also claimed there were rumours amongst fellow officers that Duggan was a predator and had previously assaulted someone - but she never thought it would happen to her. 

Angered that Duggan had received a full year on a sergeant's pay following the attack, the victim said she wished there had been a trial so that she could have had her say.

'It seems unfair. Ultimately, I am glad that a sexual predator like Gareth Duggan is no longer in the police. It is an honour to serve in the police force.'

In mitigation for Duggan, defence lawyer Daniel Weed said the officer had been suffering from PTSD from harrowing events he had dealt with during 15 years of front-line policing.

'Front-line policing is not a pretty environment at all. That does impact on the individual. For anyone that would have had an impact on their mental health.

'There are concerns about his mental health to the extent that it could be PTSD and to the extent that he is receiving counselling in that regard.'

Mr Weed said Duggan had 'disgraced himself' and accepted that he would be sacked at the misconduct hearing in January.  

Mr Weed told the court that as well as well as losing his job, along with his £2,100 monthly income, Duggan's wife had also been impacted.

'He is a very lucky man to have someone willing to come to court with him and be his wife, she sees some good in him,' the solicitor said. 

'He is a disgraced man, a broken man. It would break him more by sending him to prison.'

Duggan was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and 35 days of rehabilitative activity with the probation service and he will sign the Sex Offender Register for seven years.

District Judge Jack McGarva told him: 'You are a police officer and the public and your colleagues are entitled to look at you as an example and someone they can trust. You completely failed them. Any punishment must reflect that police officers should be beyond reproach.

The judge emphasised the case of PC Wayne Couzens as an example of some of the 'pretty bad things' police officers have done over the past years. 

'It undermines the position of every other police officer. Every other police officer is devalued by what you do.

Judge McGarva highlighted the impact of the assault on the victims and said Duggan's drunkenness did not provide an excuse.  

'I have to bear in mind this conviction will have a big impact on you and your family. But let's not forget that other people were hurt by you. This was not a fleeting kind of touch. It was quite significant in both cases. It's more than brushing against someone in a sexual way.

'It was very significant contact which will probably live with them for the rest of their lives. They will never forget how horrible the horrible feeling was.'

'It is right that you have experienced some pretty awful things in life as a police officer but how many thousands of police officers in Wales have been through these sorts of things and have not behaved like this? It does not make you behave like this.

'Something very wrong has made you behave like this,' the judge concluded.

Description

A dad filmed himself trying to rape a woman as she pleaded "no" and "get off me".

Damola Olateju, 37, may have got away with the shocking attack had detectives not extracted the damning video from his mobile phone. Liverpool Crown Court heard the next day the woman found bruises and feared she had been raped, but was worried about coming forward because her memory was hazy.

However a man who had been at the party contacted her with concerns about what he saw in the run up to the incident, which gave her the confidence to call the police. 

Fiona McNeill, prosecuting, told the court the woman had been out with friends in Warrington Town Centre in December 2020. The group were drinking near the White Hart pub until around 11pm, when the court heard her memory became "blurry".

Ms McNeill said: "[The victim] recalls being at the Postern Gate part of Warrington trying to get a taxi. She remembers her and her friends being approached by some men."

She added: "The next she can remember is being in a flat. She recalls being in the kitchen of the flat and drinking something."

The court heard there was a gathering at the flat and the victim had some memories of speaking to a woman in a bathroom and sitting on a couch, then being in a bed. Ms McNeill told the court: "She could tell there was someone else in the bed. She recalls that person, as she put it, was ‘mithering’ her and touching her.

"She remembers feeling cold and trying to cover herself with the quilt and saying that she was cold. She remembers saying ‘no’ and ‘I'm cold’. That is the last [the complainant] remembers from that night."

The court heard the woman woke in the morning alone in a bedroom, with her underwear missing but her boots still on, and went looking for her phone and bag. She realised as she searched for her phone that there was an empty condom wrapper in the room.

Ms McNeill said she found her phone and bag but the battery was dead, and she realised the door of the flat was locked. The victim shook Olateju awake and asked him to let her out, but initially he demanded to know where his phone was and wanted to search her bag.

Ms McNeill said: "The prosecution say we can only surmise the defendant was aware of what was on the phone and wanted to retain it."

The woman pointed out his phone after spotting it in the flat and was eventually able to leave and go home. The following night she realised she had bruises and injuries to her legs and buttocks, and began to fear she had been raped.

However it wasn't until the man who had also been at the gathering contacted her on Snapchat asking if she was ok, and expressing concerns about Olateju's behaviour, that she felt there was enough evidence to come forward.

Olateju was traced and arrested, and a deleted video file was recovered from his phone. Ms McNeill said: "The video showed evidence of what was said in the bedroom. "[The victim] can be heard saying 'no' and 'get off me' and that she is cold.

"The defendant can be seen trying to part her legs. He can be heard to say 'shut the f*** up' and then strikes her twice, in a slap to the face. She is heard saying 'ow'."

The court heard Olateju claimed he had engaged in consensual sex with the woman and had slapped her because he believed she enjoyed rough sex, but had given up trying to have sex with her on the last occasion and gone to another bedroom.

Olateju, of Padgate Lane in Warrington, was later charged with two counts of rape and one of attempted rape which he denied. He stool trial at Liverpool Crown Court, where a jury cleared him of the rapes but found him guilty of the attempted rape charge, which related to the events in the video.

Summing up a statement from the victim, Ms McNeill said she had been left with anxiety and feelings of hopelessness, and found it difficult to trust people.

Justin Hugheston-Roberts, defending, said his client was a father and also a carer for an autistic man, both of whom would suffer due to the inevitable prison sentence.

Mr Hugheston-Roberts said: "All of these things he should have thought about before that fateful morning. The jury saw the recording of the woman who said no, this defendant should have heeded that but heed it he didn't and they convicted him of the attempted rape.

"Today he has to pay the consequences. But there is a different side to this man other than the man who tried to force himself on a woman in the early hours of the morning."

Judge Stuart Driver, KC, passing sentence, said he was not persuaded that there was evidence Olateju had "plied" the defendant with alcohol, but said the video was an aggravating feature of the case.

Olateju, who appeared in court vid video-link from prison, hung his head as he was jailed for five years and ordered to sign the sex offender' register for life. The court heard he must serve at least two thirds of that sentence in custody before he can apply for parole.

Speaking after the hearing, Detective Constable Rob Catterall, of Cheshire Police, said: "I would like to praise the courage of the victim in this case for coming forward and it is because of her that we have got the result we have today.

"We will do all we can to listen to victims of sexual offences and I hope that this sentence proves that we will follow every avenue open to us in order to bring perpetrators to justice. I hope that this sentence will bring comfort to the victim knowing that Olateju will be behind bars for his actions."

Description

A PERVERT has been locked up after performing a sex act on himself in plain sight of two young girls.

Jamie Scott looked directly at the teenagers as he exposed his penis within close proximity of a children’s play area in broad daylight.

The 35-year-old tried to minimise his actions and denied the offence, telling the courts how he was simply urinating in public.

However, a jury saw through his bluff and he was convicted of exposure and breaching his sexual harm prevention order, and he appeared to be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday, November 18.

In summing up the facts of the case, judge Gary Woodhall explained how the offences occurred on the afternoon of May 17 this year.

Scott exposed his penis and performed a sex act on himself in Sankey Valley Park at around 3pm in plain sight of two young teenage girls.

The court heard how it was committed on a sunny day in a location frequented by children and dog walkers, as well as being near a children’s play area.

The defendant was looking directly at the girls while committing the sexual offence, and when they tried to film him to get evidence of the incident, he ran away.

Following his identification and arrest, he gave no comment to police during his interview.

In impact statements, one of the girls said she is reminded of the incident every time she walks through the park and how she is anxious and nervous when out alone.

She added that she no longer feels safe in public on her own and that the incident has affected her friendship with the other victim, who said the same. 

 The second girl spoke of her anger and frustration following the incident, which also made her no longer feel safe on her own.

Prosecutor Francis Dillon told the court how Scott tried to plead guilty on the basis that he exposed his penis to urinate rather than cause alarm or distress to other people in the vicinity.

This was rejected by the crown, which stated that his intention was to shock and receive sexual gratification from his actions.

The matter went to trial and Scott was convicted by a jury. The court heard how he is deemed to pose a high risk of committing sexual offences and that he continues to deny his guilt.

Mr Dillon revealed that the defendant has four previous convictions for nine offences, including spells in prison for previous exposure incidents and breaches of his sexual harm prevention order and sex offender notification requirements.

In defence of his client, Simeon Evans asked the court to suspend the inevitable prison sentence, pointing to the fact that he has already served six months in prison on remand.

He also spoke of how Scott, a trained engineer, has never had the benefit of any programmes to address the issues behind his offending, which was described as a ‘compulsion’.

Before sentencing, judge Woodhall said: “There is an entrenched pattern of you exposing your penis in public for your own sexual gratification.

“I am perfectly satisfied that this offence is so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified.”

Scott, of Arpley Street in the town centre, was sentenced to 27 months in prison.

His sexual harm prevention order will continue to run, and he must abide by sex offender notification requirements for 10 years. 

Description

A VILE and dangerous sex predator has been locked up after grooming a child on Snapchat and then raping her.

Earlier this year, Shah Sikander began communicating with the 14-year-old victim on the social media platform.

The 36-year-old deliberately tricked her into thinking he was a 22-year-old man called Sanchez, and he even sent her a photograph of a younger man, falsely claiming that to be him.

The victim had been clear she was under the age of 16 throughout her online communication with Sikander.

Before meeting his victim, Sikander offered to shower her with gifts, talked about meeting up for sex and successfully convinced her to send sexualised images of herself to him.

Having set up the meeting, Sikander travelled from his Warrington home to meet the victim in Poulton-le-Fylde in Lancashire on July 15.

He drove her to a remote location in Preston and raped her, before dropping her off in Blackpool town centre.

The victim told her family what had happened later the same evening.

Lancashire Police launched an investigation and Sikander was identified via CCTV footage of him dropping the victim off. He was arrested on the M6 the following day.

Presented with overwhelming evidence, Sikander, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to rape, child abduction and sexual communication with a child at Preston Crown Court

Judge Guy Mathieson described the defendant as a dangerous sexual predator and jailed him for 12 years.

Sikander was also ordered to sign the sex offender register for life and was made the subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order. 

Description

A DISGUSTING paedophile who had been making indecent images of children since 2007 has been jailed.

Simon Tomkins was in possession of so many sick images that Cheshire Police stopped counting after finding a certain number.

He had ‘collected’ these shocking images – including ones of children being sexually assaulted – for more than a decade.

Tomkins, 39, appeared before Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children (IIOC) and sole counts each of possessing IIOC, possessing prohibited images of children and possessing a class B controlled drug.

Specifically, Tomkins was in possession of 222 category A images, 358 category B images, and 10,710 category C images.

Prosecuting, Derek Jones told the court how the investigation commenced after Cheshire Police received intel that the Tomkins, of Patton Drive, Great Sankey, may be accessing indecent images online.

They attended his address in October 2019 and arrested him where they seized seven electronic devices – all of which ‘tested positive’ for indecent images.

Mr Jones explained how Tomkins had downloaded a browser that allowed him to search anonymously.

He also said how the majority of images found were in ‘normal positions’ on the defendant’s computer, but some had been put into folders under ‘genres’ or under girls' names so he could ‘access them quickly’.

Some of the folders were also password protected and some images downloaded by Tomkins dated back to 2007.

This meant he had been downloading sick images for 12 years from 2007 to 2019.

The court heard how Cheshire Police stopped examining the items found on Tomkins' computer after they found a certain number of category A images - the most severe category involving child rape.

Mr Jones said how ‘well over’ 100,000 pictures and videos were found on devices belonging to Tomkins’, but it is not clear if they were indecent images as the police had stopped categorising them by this point.

He also revealed how some of the videos found included children as young as eight years old.

Tomkins had also been using Kik Messenger and Skype where there were some sexualised conversations between him and another user – and in one instance it is believed he had pretended to be a 14-year-old girl.

Defending, Robert Dudley said that after the shock of Tomkins being arrested: “He has gone cold turkey and has not accessed sites like this since.”

He also said that Tomkins has an understanding how what he did and ‘how bad that was’ and has also shown an understanding of what impact he had on the victims.

Concluding, Judge Ian Harris said: “In my judgement, the only appropriate punishment is immediate custody.

"The victims in this case are the children in those images.

"They are being sexually exploited and are highly vulnerable.

"The impact on them is massive and has a corrosive effect on them.

"There is no doubt that in the short and long term these victims do suffer."

Tomkins was handed a two-year prison sentence.

He is also subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years and must comply with notification requirements of the sex offender register for 10 years.

Description

A PREDATOR who engaged in disgusting sex chats with someone he believed was a young girl has been jailed.

Alan Brocklehurst believed he was flirting with a 14-year-old child in online chats and through WhatsApp on his phone.

When he was asking if she wanted ‘naughty fun’ however, he was in fact communicating with a volunteer online with the purpose of catching child sex offenders and protecting real children.

The 50-year-old was caught and charged with attempting to cause or incite a child to engage in sexual activity and attempted sexual communications with a child.

He appeared to be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday, where he was told that the only possible sentence was one of immediate imprisonment.

Christopher Hopkins, prosecuting, explained how the defendant was using the internet on his mobile phone to access chat rooms and use WhatsApp to talk to someone who was purporting to be a child.

The person in question was a woman volunteering for a ‘child welfare support team’, who had set up a decoy profile claiming to be a 14-year-old girl named Gemma.

Brocklehurst communicated every day with the profile over seven days from December 7 last year, after initiating the conversation on fastflirting.com.

From the outset, the profile declared to the defendant that it was of a 14-year-old girl from Wallsend, with most messages from the defendant ending with kisses.

When informed by the ‘girl’ that she was 14, Brocklehurst said: “It has been ages since I had young p***y.”

He then asked her what she was looking for and gave her his mobile number, after which she asked him to add her on WhatsApp, which he did.

Conversations ranged from him asking to see her in her school uniform to requesting she performed sex acts on herself.

On one of the days, he asked her if she had told anyone about him, and when she said she had not told her mother, Brocklehurst said this was good as she would ‘get mad’.

On another he asked if she wanted ‘naughty fun, while there was also a discussion about her being naked after having a shower, to which the defendant said: “You are gorgeous because you are 14.”. 

 In addition, the defendant requested she perform sex acts on herself, to which the profile confirmed she had.

The following day, he said that one day he hoped she would show him her boobs and asked if she wanted to meet up with him.

Throughout the period, there were requests from Brocklehurst for the girl to send him ‘naughty pictures’ of herself.

Brocklehurst was identified and arrested on December 16 at his place of work, and police seized his mobile phone. He gave no comment to questions during his interview with officers.

In defence of his client, Jeremy Rawson referenced his guilty pleas, ‘remorse and regret’, and the fact that he is a carer for a dependant relative.

“It is sad to see a man of his age come before the court for offences of this type, when the only way to deal with him is an immediate custodial sentence,” he commented.

“He is sorry for what took place during a period of madness, when he indulged in quite shocking conversations, and he now realises the stupidity of what he has done.

“He recognises offences of this type are not victimless. The internet is a happy hunting ground for people who wish to prey on vulnerable victims,” which recorder Mark Ainsworth described as a ‘parent’s worst nightmare’.

Mr Rawson spoke of Brocklehurst’s lack of any previous convictions and asked that the prison sentence of the ‘otherwise decent and hard-working individual’ to be kept as short as possible.

Before sentencing, recorder Mark said: “You will understand now, if you did not before, the serious view courts take of this sort of conduct.

“There is no way you would not have known that Gemma did not exist, and as far you were concerned, you were communicating with a 14-year-old girl, having her perform sex acts on herself and talking in this sexual way.”

Brocklehurst, of Wilson Patten Street in the town centre, was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison.

He must also abide by a sexual harm prevention order and sex offender registration requirements, both for an indefinite period.

In addition, the court approved an order to deprive the defendant of his mobile phone. 

Description

A THUG who was previously jailed for a shocking attack on a youth in a park has been sent back to custody.

Ethan Moran knocked the boy’s front tooth out and left him with hearing problems after disapproving of him being in a relationship with a younger girl.

However, the 21-year-old has now been jailed again for having sex with an underage girl.

Moran was charged with engaging in sexual activity with a child, and he appeared to be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday.

Cheryl Mottram, prosecuting, explained how the offence occurred in the summer of 2020 when he was 19, while the complainant was a girl under the age of 16.

One evening, while both were at loose ends, they met up at the defendant’s flat on his invitation to watch a film.

The court heard how the defendant knew she was underage and she knew he was 19, but he met her outside and escorted her upstairs.

She thought they would only be watching a film due to her age, the court was told, however this escalated to kissing on the couch and then unprotected sex.

At the time she said she was ‘fine’, but then became ‘panicky’ due to the age difference.

The court heard that the defendant lied to the complainant’s parents about his age, but they soon found out and Moran was arrested in December 2020.

He admitted to police that they had engaged in sexual activity, but he told them he was in a ‘bad place’ at the time mentally and with drugs.

In an impact statement, the court heard how the complainant has suffered from anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts since the incident.

Ms Mottram revealed to the court that Moran has one previous conviction for wounding, for which he was handed 12 months detention in a young offender institution in May last year.

That offence took place three months after the sex offence, but before he was arrested for it.

It arose after his punch in Brickfield Park in Orford knocked a teen’s front tooth out and left him with hearing problems.

Moran, who had taken class A drugs beforehand, launched the attack on a 16-year-old boy, as for ‘reasons unknown’, he objected to his victim starting a relationship with a 15-year-old girl.

The defendant continued to punch the teen five or six times to the head after knocking him to the ground and only stopped after desperate pleas from shocked onlookers.

 The boy took his tooth to the dentist the next day, where he was told the tooth would not stay in and would require an implant which requires replacing every 10 to 15 years.

He also revealed that he must wear a hearing aid for the rest of his life due to hearing problems developed as a result of the attack.

In defence of his client, Anthony Rose referenced Moran’s guilty plea and the fact that ‘this is not a situation where there was an element of coercion or grooming’.

“This was an inappropriate and wrong sexual relationship between two consenting people,” the barrister explained.

“The defendant is a different person then than he is now, as he has been through a significant custodial sentence which had a profound effect on him.

“He has done a lot of growing up since then, and he was very immature a the time of the offence.”

Mr Rose told the court that the defendant has been volunteering with a group helping to deliver food parcels as he ‘wants to pay back and become a better person’, and added that there is a ‘compelling argument to allow this man to have his liberty’.

But this view was rejected by judge David Potter, who concluded that only an immediate custodial sentence was appropriate.

He said: “This was clearly inappropriate and wrong sexual activity, which you accept.

“The offence is a serious offence, and I am satisfied that you knew the person you had penetrative sex with was under 16.

“The law exists to protect children, sometimes from themselves. You should have known and acted better.

“The offence is so serious that only a custodial sentence is appropriate.

“The sentence is capable of being suspended, but I am satisfied that only adequate punishment can be achieved by the imposition of an immediate sentence of imprisonment.”

Moran, of Poplars Avenue in Orford, was sentenced to six months in prison.

He was also handed a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years and must abide by sex offender registration requirements for the same length of time.

In addition, a restraining order preventing him from contacting the complainant by any means was imposed for an indefinite period. 

Description

A CHEF who was rumbled with a disgusting collection of indecent images of children has walked free from court.

Steven Finalls horrific stash included some of the worst categorised child sex images including toddlers being raped.

The 45-year-old was rumbled by police and subsequently charged with three counts of making indecent images of children (IIOC), one of possessing IIOC and one of possession of cocaine.

He was put before Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday, however he was allowed to walk free due to his good prospect of rehabilitation.

Christopher Hopkins, prosecuting, explained how the collection came to light after police executed a search warrant on January 13 at his home, which the court heard was in Warrington.

This came after the authorities received intelligence relating to Finalls suspected activities on the social media platform Snapchat.

Officers seized a Samsung tablet computer and a mobile phone during the raid, as well as a quantity of cocaine, with a forensic examination revealing the presence of IIOC.

In total, there were 190 depraved images and videos on his devices, including 36 graded as category A the most severe category with one showing a two-year-old child being raped.

The examination also discovered 32 category B images and 122 rated as category C.

Most were in cache files, having been deleted from the devices.

In defence of his client, Simeon Evans referenced his strong work ethic during his time working as a chef at The Swan pub in Winwick.

He also spoke of his guilty pleas to the charges, his lack of previous convictions and his acceptance of possessing the images during his police interview.

Before sentencing, recorder Mark Ainsworth said: You must understand that the court takes a very dim view of this sort of conduct.

The point that needs to be emphasized, time and time again, is that behind each of those images is a child being sexually abused.

If there was no marketplace for those images, and people like you looking on the internet searching for them, the abuse would not take place.

The circumstances of this case are such that, while I am obliged to impose a sentence of imprisonment, it can be suspended due to there being a good prospect of rehabilitation.

Finall, whose address in court was given as The Swan pub on Golborne Road, was sentenced to six months in prison suspended for two years.

He was also ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and 35 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

In addition, he is now subject to a sexual harm prevention order for seven years, as well as sex offender registration requirements for the same length of time.

An order for the forfeiture and destruction of the devices and cocaine seized.

In a statement following the hearing, The Swan pub said: "We were utterly shocked and appalled to read headlines about a former member of our kitchen team, as this was the first time we had been made aware of his court case and sentencing.

"We can confirm he no longer works at our pub, and if any allegations had been made to us previously, we would have dealt with them in a swift and appropriate manner through our usual HR processes.

"Any comments made in court about support from his employer must have been around general support he received during his time working here.

"Everyone at the pub is so deeply upset and distressed by this, and we please ask you to understand that we have found out about this news at the same time as everyone else."

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A PERVERT has walked free from court, despite engaging in sex chats online with someone he believed was a young girl.

Terry Yates sent disgusting messages to the ‘girl’ – but this was in fact a member of a paedophile hunter group set up to catch child sex offenders.

The 39-year-old was subsequently charged with attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child and appeared before Liverpool Crown Court on Monday.

But he was spared an immediate jail sentence to allow him to get the ‘help and treatment he needs’ outside of a custody setting.

Olivia Beesley, prosecuting, explained how Yates sent a Facebook friend request to the profile of a ’14-year-old girl’ operated by paedophile hunters on May 5 this year.

He then began to send messages to the ‘teenager’ on June 3, asking her to ‘look at my little willy’.

The defendant was made clear that the girl was only 14, but he continued to message the account, referring to her as ‘gorgeous’ and ‘his beautiful princess’.

As well as sending naked videos and photos of himself, married Yates asked the girl to send him a video of herself ‘giggling’ and photos of her in her school uniform.

He was confronted by paedophile hunter group members on July 2 at his home on Whitworth Close in Birchwood.

Cheshire Police officers were called to the scene and Yates was arrested.

The court also heard that the defendant lost his Amazon warehousing job as a result of his arrest, although he has since found further employment.

Ms Beesley added that Yates has one previous conviction for handling stolen goods back in 2004.

In defence of his client, Jeremy Rawson spoke of how the defendant has demonstrated a ‘clear acceptance of wrong, remorse and insight into the consequences of his offending’.

“He understands quite clearly, had this been a real individual, then he could not live with himself for what he has done,” he said.

 “The man in the dock, prior to this foolhardy, reckless and stupid activity, had a wife, a house, a job, a family and friends.

“He has managed to keep his house and obtain employment, but all those other ostentations passed him by, and he is effectively alone.”

Before sentencing, recorder Mark Ainsworth described the facts of the case as ‘frankly appalling’.

"This is what every parent fears. This is the sort of behaviour that causes outrage and disgust within society, and understandably so,” he said.

“It is clear that she made it known to you that she was 14 years of age, and yet you persevered.

"The impact on you will be significant. It means, effectively, that your marriage has come to an end.”

But he added: “I can ensure you receive the help and treatment you would clearly benefit from to ensure that this is not repeated in future. Whether you serve that sentence is a matter entirely for you.

“If for the next two years you remain out of trouble, then you can put this matter behind you and move on with your life.”

He sentenced Yates to eight months in prison suspended for two years.

The defendant must also complete 100 hours of unpaid work and 25 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

In addition, he was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order and sex offender registration requirements, both lasting 10 years.

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A CONVCITED paedophile with a history of possessing indecent images of children has been brought back before the courts.

Alan Wattman, of Greenings Court, Orford, breached a number of conditions of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) as well as a number of conditions of his registration on the Sex Offenders Register.

The SHPO was made in May 2019 after he had been caught downloading indecent images of children again.

As well as being in possession of a computer that had not been registered with the police within three days, the 42-year-old was found to be using a number of different pseudonyms on the internet.

Wattman was also found to be in possession of a Natwest Visa debit card that was not registered with the police within three days and using a ‘cloud’ storage account which also hadn’t been registered with police.

The sex offender appeared before Liverpool Crown Court for sentencing on Monday.

At an earlier hearing, he pleaded guilty to five offences of breaching conditions of his registration of the Sex Offenders Register and two offences of breaching his SHPO.

Judge Anil Murray handed Wattman a 20-month prison sentence and ordered him to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years, again.

Cheshire Police said they are unable to issue a custody photograph of the defendant.

Description

 A SEX offender is now serving time behind bars for his ‘flagrant disregard for court orders’.

Paul Roberts was hauled before the courts for failing to abide by the terms of his sex offender registration requirements.

The 39-year-old was told that the level of risk he poses was one of the reasons why magistrates felt that anything other than immediate imprisonment was inappropriate.

Roberts, of no fixed abode, appeared before Crewe Magistrates’ Court on Monday, September 5 after being charged with breaching his sex offenders register requirements.

Jenna Cooney, prosecuting, explained how the defendant was made subject to the requirements following conviction of a sex offence.

Such requirements allow authorities to keep track of the activities of sex offenders, including those who have completed their criminal sentences.

Roberts was found to have breached his requirements between August 17 and 27 by failing, ‘without reasonable excuse’ to notify authorities that he was staying at a Warrington address other than one he was approved to do so for seven days or more.

Magistrates took his guilty plea into account, however they remarked that the offence was ‘so serious’ that only a custodial sentence could be justified

They also said that the defendant has a ‘flagrant disregard for court orders’, committed the offence while subject to post-sentence supervision and due to the level of risk he poses.

Roberts was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison and ordered to pay a surcharge to fund victim services of £154.

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Officers confronted Smoggie who was seen acting 'suspiciously' around women A registered sex offender was spotted taking "hundreds" of pictures of women at a Pride event by plain clothes police officers. Andrew Smoggie - also previously known as Andrew Mackie, 51, of Thelwall Lane, Warrington, was caught acting "suspiciously" around women during Manchester Pride on Peter Street in the city. When police checked his phone they found hundreds of pictures of women and they suspected many were taken at Pride. Specialist officers had detected that Smoggie was walking around with his phone to his ear, but the screen was discreetly in photo mode. Police officers caught him taking a picture of a woman who was unconscious of his actions and they confronted him. After being spoken to by police he was identified as a registered sex offender with an order preventing him from taking pictures of any female not known to him whilst in a public. Smoggie was charged with a breach of his Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO). A SHPO is a court order that can be requested by the police, imposed in court when there is a specific concern about an individual. It can remain in place for at least five years - or can be imposed by a court indefinitely and any breach is a criminal offence. Conditions for a SHPO can consist of telling the police what devices they own, who they are in contact with, and, in exceptional cases, restricts where they can and cannot go in the community. He was remanded in police custody and appeared at Manchester & Salford Magistrates court on Monday, August 29 where he pleaded guilty.

Description

A SERIAL exposer has been jailed again after being caught naked while holding his genitals at a bus stop. Andrew Fearnley-Hill was spotted by police on one of Warringtons busiest roads, with one officer commenting that he appeared to be performing a sex act on himself. The 52-year-old has a history of sex offending, with a long list of previous convictions for being naked in public. He is now facing more time behind bars, with a judge stating that the more he offends, the longer he will spend locked up. Fearnley-Hill appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday videolink from HM Prison Altcourse to be sentenced on a charge of exposure. Joanne Cronshaw, prosecuting, explained how the offence occurred on July 2 this year, which happened to be the defendants birthday. At around 11.30pm, two officers were returning to Warrington Police Station when they spotted him standing at a bus stop on Folly Lane while fully naked. One of the officers said that he was holding his penis and appeared to have been performing a sex act on himself, with his pants and underwear on the floor beside him. He was holding his genitals in full view of passing motorists, pedestrians and people living in homes opposite the bus stop. After approaching him, officers remarked that he appeared to be under the influence of alcohol, was slurring his word and had empty beer cans beside him. Ms Cronshaw revealed to the court that Fearnley-Hill has 17 previous convictions for 26 offences, 11 of which have been sex offences, including 10 for either exposure or outraging public decency and one for sexual assault. Among his previous convictions are incidents of approaching lone females while naked and holding his penis. He is currently in prison on recall having committed this latest offence while out on licence. Defending his client, Jeremy Rawson said: His strongest piece of mitigation is his guilty plea at magistrates court, and he also made admissions in his police interview. He explained that the defendant takes a cocktail of drugs for a heart condition, which do not react well to alcohol. Before sentencing, judge Gary Woodhall said: An explanation can be deduced by way of your previous convictions you are a serial offender for exposing yourself in public, with an established pattern of offending. None of the interventions have done anything to stop you from committing this sort of offence. I was never going to suspend the sentence in any event due to your previous convictions. You pose a high risk of sexual offending. I am satisfied that the offence is so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified. Fearnley-Hill, of Lovely Lane, was sentenced to 12 months in prison. On his release, he will be subject to sex offender registration requirements for 10 years and abide by post-sentence supervision for a further 12 months. Before ending the hearing, judge Woodhall added: You must understand that if you keep committing these offences, you simply will keep getting prison sentences.