Search results for Warrington

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A FATHER has been locked up after sending disgusting sexual videos and photos online to someone he believed was a young girl.

David Reading thought he was communicating with a 12-year-old, asking her to perform sex acts on herself and send photos of her naked.

But the 38-year-old was in fact chatting to an undercover police officer tasked with catching online child sex offenders.

The defendant, from Orford, appeared to be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday, where he was told that the only appropriate punishment was immediate custody.

He attended after pleading guilty to attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity, attempted sexual communications with a child and attempting to cause a child to watch sexual activity.

He also admitted charges of possessing and making indecent images of children at an earlier hearing.

Jamie Baxter, prosecuting, explained how on November 22 last year, the defendant instigated a conversation with another user on the chatroom Chatiw a site which the court heard is often abused by paedophiles.

Throughout the discussion, Reading believed he was talking to a 12-year-old girl, but it was in fact an undercover police officer working to identify online child sex offenders.

His profile, which contained the name David and stated he was a 37-year-old man from Cheshire, began the conversation with an account under the username NotInSchool.

The account stated it belonged to a girl from Lancashire aged 18 the lowest the age can be set when making an account on the platform.

The girl received a message from the defendant saying what do you think, followed by a photo of a penis, to which she asked why he had sent her that.

She told him that she was not really 18, and when he asked how old she really was, with another photo of a penis, she said 12.

Reading told her this was ok and asked her if she thought his penis was small, as well as for her ID on Kik Messenger.

The girl added him on the social media platform, with her Kik account including the name Izzy Jane, and he asked her if she wanted to see his little d**k before sending her a 15-second video of him performing a sex act on himself.

On another occasion, he sent further images of his erect penis and asked her to send naked photos of herself, to which she reminded him that she was 12.

Another interaction saw him tell her he was naked in bed and ask if she wanted to perform a sex act on herself and show him her knickers.

Police investigating the defendant tracked his IP address to his home, and on January 7 this year at 6.50am, officers from Cheshire Polices Online Child Abuse Investigation Team arrested him.

A number of devices were seized and he offered no comment during his police interview.

The following month, a forensic analysis report returned with evidence of indecent images of children on his iPhone.

The six images were graded as category C, showing children as young as nine naked in sex poses and positions.

Mr Baxter revealed to the court that Reading has no previous convictions, with his only prior brush with the law being a police caution for being drunk and disorderly in 2004.

In defence of his client, Jeremy Rawson referenced his guilty pleas entered at the first opportunity and how he has lived an otherwise blameless life.

He is remorseful and regretful. He has a very steep and high hill to climb to address his offending, but he is open to rehabilitation, the barrister said.

He faces a custodial sentence, there is no doubt about that. The only issue is if it can be suspended or not.

I submit that appropriate punishment can be achieved without the need for an immediate custodial sentence because of his strong personal mitigation.

However, this view was rejected by judge Anil Murray, who commented: Looking at your behaviour overall, this is a case where appropriate punishment can only be achieved with immediate custody.

Reading, of Orford Avenue, was sentenced to 16 months in prison.

He must also abide by a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years and sign the sex offender register for the same length of time.

In addition, an order was approved to deprive the defendant of his iPhone which contained the indecent images of children.

Description

A CONVICTED sex offender who is banned from being drunk and touching people has been jailed again. Jimmy Artell, now of Fearnhead, Warrington, was handed a criminal behaviour order in August last year by the courts following a drunken crime spree. The 41-year-old was also jailed for 44 weeks at Chester Crown Court after admitting sexual assault, assault by beating, failing to comply with the sex offenders register and criminal damage. The charges relate a number of offences in the Ellesmere Port and Chester areas, prominently involving abusive and threatening language and making unwanted advances towards people. Through his five-year criminal behaviour order, Artell is prohibited from being drunk in any public place in England and Wales and from being in possession of an open container of alcohol in a public place. He is also banned from having physical contact with any person while intoxicated, except for a legitimate purpose or with their consent. But he is now behind bars again for flouting the order by being drunk in Ellesmere Port on July 13, as well as for failing to comply with his supervision requirements after being released from custody. Appearing before Chester Magistrates Court on Friday, Artell, of Valiant Close, was sentenced to six weeks in prison. District judge Nicholas Sanders took the defendants guilty pleas into account, however he remarked that Artell has a flagrant disregard for court orders. Speaking when the criminal behaviour order was imposed last year, Inspector Paul Fegan, of Cheshire Police, said: Over the past few years, we have dealt with a variety of different incidents involving Artell, including inappropriate touching, all of which appear to stem from his addiction to alcohol. Hopefully, now that this order is in place, which requires him to actively engage with the services that are available to help him, he will be able to start moving forward with his life.

Description

AN offender has been jailed for breaching his sex offender register requirements. Robert Dooley admitted breaching the terms of the register, which contains the details of anyone convicted, cautioned or released from prison for sexual offence against children or adults. The 34-year-old committed the breach in Warrington on June 24 this year. According to court documents, he failed without reasonable excuse to comply with the notification requirements of the register by failing to register with authorities that he had a new address or was of no fixed abode. Dooley, whose address in court was given as no fixed abode, but of the Widnes area, was subsequently charged with failing to comply with notification requirements of the sex offender register. The defendant admitted the breach when he appeared before Chester Magistrates Court. Taking this guilty plea into account, magistrates jailed him for 26 weeks. In their reasoning, they remarked that the offence was so serious that only a custodial sentence could be justified, as well as the defendant having a flagrant disregard for court orders.

Description

Anthony Moores sent disgusting photos of himself to the child and told her he was ‘horny’ – but it was in fact an undercover police officer.

The 33-year-old committed the crime while on police bail for no less than 17 child sex offences, failing to heed warnings after admitting the disgusting offences but before being sentenced.

After seeing his current jail sentence extended, he was told that he was clearly dangerous, and that an extended sentence was needed to safely protect the public.

Moores admitted attempted sexual communications with a child and attempting to cause a child to watch sexual activity and appeared before Manchester Crown Square Crown Court to be sentenced.

Rachel Shenton, prosecuting, explained how the defendant had previously been sentenced in August 2021 to four years in prison with an extended licence period of a further four years.

This was for 17 offences including causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, making indecent images of a child, attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child committed in September 2020-.

 The court heard how he encouraged a ’vulnerable’ 11-year-old girl in residential care to send videos of herself performing sexual acts, while also engaging in sex chats with 12 other girls who he believed to be between the ages of 12 and 15, but were in fact decoys created by members of a paedophile hunter group.

The offences for which he was sentenced for in this latest hearing were committed in January last year – while on bail after being convicted of the former offences, but before being jailed for them.

He was arrested while a prisoner at HM Prison Forest Bank in Salford in November 2021, following analysis of devices seized after police visited his home on Buttermarket Street in Warrington town centre on March 23 earlier that year.

This came after he was caught having sexualised chats via online dating site MeetMe with a profile he believed belonged to Billy, a 13-year-old girl from Ipswich, but which was in fact controlled by an undercover police officer.

The profile he was chatting with had a photo of a 13-year-old girl, and on January 29 last year, the officer received a private message from the defendant’s profile, which was in his own name.

Chat messages included ‘what are you looking for’, to which the officer replied: “Some fun, but I am young.”

Moores told the officer that he was ‘horny’, and when he was told by the ‘girl’ that she was 13, he replied that he was 31.

Messages continued on WhatsApp, where the defendant told the ‘girl’ that she was ‘so cute’ and asked what ‘stuff’ she had done with her last boyfriend. 

 He asked for video chats and whether she would like to see him perform a sex act on himself, before sending a photo of such activity.

The defendant asked for a photo of her breasts, made references about her genitalia, asked if she liked the photos he sent and asked if she wanted to be his girlfriend, as well as a discussion about meeting up.

He asked her to perform sex acts on herself and himself and told her that he loved her before the messages ended on February 14.

When he was interviewed in prison, he answered no comment to most questions.

Michael Johnson, defending, spoke of how Moores’ learning disability ‘contributed to his offending in having a bearing on his conduct’.

He said that his client ‘craves intimacy’, but shields behind social media platforms due to ‘esteem issues’, and he asked for any sentence to run concurrent his current one – meaning no extra time behind bars.

Before sentencing, judge Hilary Manley said: “You engaged in sexual communications with an undercover police officer – she said she was 13 and you did not care.

“There was a significant difference in your age and what you believed her age to be.

“You failed to respond to warnings after already being caught, had pleaded guilty and was awaiting sentence, and you did it again.”

“Because you have been convicted of a specific offence, I have to consider dangerousness, and whether you present a significant risk of serious harm by committing other offences – I am satisfied that you do present that risk,” she went on to say. 

 “When I sentenced you in August last year, I took the view that you were dangerous, and this view has only been reinforced by what I now know.”

Moores, whose address in court was simply listed at HMP Altcourse, was jailed for 22 months with an extended licence period of a year.

This will run consecutive to the four-year sentence imposed in August last year, and once he has served two thirds of the total custodial term, the parole board will determine if he can be released and serve the five-year extended licence period.

He must also sign the sex offender register for life and abide by the terms of a sexual harm prevention order indefinitely. 

Description

A PERVERTED pensioner subjected a young girl to appalling sexual abuse and took depraved photos as he did so. Raymond Hughes was handed a sentence of more than a decade behind bars for his shocking behaviour. The 74-year-old implored his victim not to tell anyone about the abuse as bad guys would hurt him, and he told police he hoped she would simply forget about what happened. Hughes was charged with four counts of sexual assault by penetration of a child under 13 and one of taking indecent images of a child. He was also convicted of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and causing a child to watch sexual activity, and he appeared to be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday. Louise McCloskey, prosecuting, explained how the victim revealed to her family in January that she had been sexually abused. She told her shocked and horrified family that she had wanted to speak out for a long time but was worried about what would happen next. Police were informed and she was interviewed, explaining to officers that the defendant would make her sit on his knee while he showed her online pornography. As she was forced to watch, he would perform sex acts on her, including penetrative activity which she said hurt. He would also take photos of himself abusing her while she was naked and call her beautiful, telling her that she would be attractive when she grew up. Police found 20 indecent images of her in his possession, two of which were categorised as category A the worst grading while eight were category B and 10 category C. The victim also told officers that he would make her hold his penis while he urinated and performed sex acts on himself, as well as how he told her not to tell anyone about the abuse as bad guys would hurt him. Hughes was arrested by police and interviewed, where he made full and frank admissions to the offences. He said that he got aroused when she sat on his knee and when he touched her in a sexual way, while accepting that he performed penetrative activity with her, but never with his penis. The defendant added that he regretted his actions very, very much and that he had hoped she would have forgotten about it. An impact statement was read out in court in which the victim said she remembers in detail what happened to her. It upsets me looking back as I was told it was completely normal, and I feel sick I could have thought something like that was normal, she said. The abuse caused her to have problems sleeping, including nightmares about what he did, while she now has low self-esteem. Reporting what happened to the police was overwhelming and stressful for her as it was difficult going through it again. Representing his client, James Smith referenced his lack of any previous convictions and his ill-health due to chronic heart and lung conditions and long Covid. This defendant is deeply sorry and ashamed for his actions, he said. He knows he will have caused a lasting and serious impact, and he fully accepts the punishment which will be meted out by your honour today. He is someone who will embrace rehabilitation, and he has a high motivation to comply with all therapies proposed. Before sentencing, judge David Potter said: All along, you hoped she would keep your awful secret to herself. What you did to her had a massive impact on her life and mental health. She was a happy and outgoing child, but her childhood was taken from her by your actions. It is abundantly clear that the psychological impact of your offending is profound, and it is likely to be a life-long lasting impact. Your life has been shattered, but so has that of many people because of your appalling behaviour. These offences are so serious that only an immediate and significant period of imprisonment is appropriate. Hughes, of Thurston Close in Hood Manor, was sentenced to 11 years and four months of prison. Due to the nature of the offences, he is classed as an offender of particular concern and was therefore handed a determinate sentence. This means he will have to serve two thirds of the jail term in custody before the case goes before the parole board to determine if he can be released, and if so, he must spend an extra year on extended license. He must also sign the sex offender register, comply with the terms of a sexual harm prevention order and abide by a restraining order not to contact or approach his victim all for life. Following the sentencing, DC Lauren Pedley, who led the police investigation, said: Being subjected to sexual abuse affects people in the most profound way, and I would like to thank the victim for the courage she showed in disclosing what Hughes subjected her to during her childhood. While she will never be able to forget about what happened to her, I hope the fact that he is now behind bars facing the consequences of his actions provides the victim with some closure and enables her to begin to move forward with her life. DC Pedley added: I hope this case and the significant custodial sentence that Hughes has received encourages other victims of sexual offences to come forward and report them to us. Cheshire Constabulary takes any allegation of sexual offences extremely seriously, no matter how long ago they relate to. Any allegation will be thoroughly investigated, with the wishes and needs of the victim as our main priority. Victims should never feel ashamed to talk about what they have been subjected to. They will receive the help and support they need from our specialist officers, as well as from other support agencies we work alongside, and all victims of sexual offences have the right to anonymity for life.

Description

A PAEDOPHILE has been locked up after being caught sharing disgusting sexual messages with someone who he believed was an 11-year-old girl in foster care. Ethan Birch arranged to meet up with the child, bringing with him pairs of girls knickers and crop tops after discussing his depraved fantasies with her. Unbeknown to him though that the girl was in fact a member of a paedophile hunter group, who had set up a fake profile to catch offenders preying on youngsters online. The defendant appeared to be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday after admitting five counts of attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity and two of attempting to cause a child to watch sexual activity. He also pleaded guilty to one offence of attempting to meet a child after grooming, one of attempted sexual communication with a child and one of attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual communication. Derek Jones, prosecuting, explained how the offences occurred over a 10-day period between January 12 and 21 this year. The case involved a group set up with the purpose of flushing out people that they perceived were child sex offenders. A group member set up a profile on the Chat Avenue social media platform under the guise of an 11-year-old girl named Izzy, who was messaged by the defendant in a teen chatroom. The pair chatted and he asked her not to block him if he told her he was really 20, to which she replied she was aged 11. After learning her age, Birch asked her if she was looking for a boyfriend and about her home life, to which she told him she was a foster child. He made comments about her profile picture, telling her how gorgeous she was, and on the first day of speaking to her he asked her if she loved him. The defendant continued to message over the following days on WhatsApp after they exchanged phone numbers, with his real name and photo appearing on his profile. He told her that he cared about her and that he wanted to do something naughty together, asking to see her underwear. Birch asked a number of times for such photos, which she repeatedly refused to send, even after he sent her a photo of him in his boxershorts. Mr Jones explained how the defendant used manipulative language to try and get her to do what he wanted, such as asking her: Do you want to make me happy? Chats turned to Birch instructing her how to perform sex acts on herself and telling her that she had to show him her underwear as she was his girlfriend. He sent her a photo of his naked genitals and a video of himself performing a sex act, with discussions escalating further with more sexual requests of her, this time of a penetrative nature. As the vile messages continued, she said: Please dont ask, its scary to do that. In response, he said: Im not asking, Im telling my girlfriend. While he also helped her with her schoolwork and explained maths concepts to her, the defendant then began to talk about meeting up at McDonalds in Widnes, which was close to his then home in Warrington. From the couple of hundred pages of messages, the prosecution determined it was Birchs intention to meet up for sexual touching rather than penetrative activity. The night before the proposed meet-up, the defendants conscience seems to get the better of him, with him telling her how wrong his actions have been and that he should not be talking like this to anybody under 18. This change of heart was however relatively short lived, and conversations returned to type with more requests for her to perform sex acts on herself. The pair arranged to meet up outside the DCBL Stadium on Lower House Lane in Widnes on Friday, January 21. When the defendant arrived, he was greeted by members of the paedophile hunter group who detained him and called the police. After arriving at the scene, officers searched Birchs rucksack and found pairs of girls underwear aged 12-14 years, as well as crop tops and a clean pair of underwear for himself. In his clients defence, David Morton spoke of how the defendant was a man of previous and positive character, with no prior convictions. He said that this was the beginning of how he intends to live a law-abiding life in the future, as someone who has expressed remorse, regret and an utter sense of shame. Mr Morton commented that Birch is utterly determined never to return to a criminal court again, while references describe him as hard-working, academic, polite respectful, nave, industrious and shy. Having had a taste of custody, his life will never be the same again, but there is a glimmer of real rehabilitation and a possibility of drawing back from an immediate custodial sentence, he concluded. Before sentencing, judge Brian Cummings said: You were and still are 20 years old, and some of the most difficult sentencing issues for the courts arise when the defendant has not been in trouble before and where they are young, but where the offences are very serious that very much applies in this case. This course of offending was relatively short, over 12 days, but unfortunately it cannot be said that it came to an end because you voluntarily desisted. It ended when you arranged to meet up in person with the intention of having sexual contact with her. Birch, of Little Lowes Meadow in Lowton, but appearing before the court via video-link from prison, was sentenced to four years and eight months detention in a young offender institution. He must also comply with the terms of a sexual harm prevention order for an indefinite period, while signing the sex offender register for the same length of time.

Description

A SEX OFFENDER who attacked a security guard at Warrington Hospital has been jailed. The assault took place last month after Michael Hayes attacked the worker. And just eight days before, the 28-year-old committed another abusive offence against a man in Warrington. This meant that Hayes, of Yardley Avenue, Dallam, had committed both offences while on post-sentence supervision. He also breached the requirements of his post-sentence supervision after he failed to attend an appointment and failed to notify the police of his whereabouts as he was instructed to do so under the terms of his status as a registered sex offender. Hayes appeared before Warrington Magistrates Court last month after pleading guilty to assault by beating of an emergency worker, using threatening or abusive behaviour with the intent to cause fear and failing to comply with the requirements of post-custodial supervision. The magistrates claimed that the offence was so serious because Hayes was offending while on post-sentence supervision. He was handed a 16-week prison sentence.

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A MAN who complained about living next door to a paedophile has been jailed - for being a paedophile. Darren Higham previously claimed he was furious about living next door to the sex offender, but he is now behind bars for sexually abusing a child over a period of four years. He subjected a child to horrific sexual abuse from the age of seven until she was around 11. The abuse ranged from kissing and touching the child to forcing her to perform sex acts on him on more than one occasion. Higham, of Chaffinch Close, Birchwood, appeared before Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to four counts of sexual assault of a child under 13 and inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity. The 53-year-olds sick offending came to light when he was spotted with the victim, said prosecutor David Watson. Mr Watson said how the person who saw them felt like something wasnt right so contacted social services. The victim later told her mum that she had been sexually abused by Higham for ages. The child told the police how Higham, a self-employed musician, used to kiss her and put his penis on her and recalled on one occasion how he had touched her. She also told them how he asked her not to tell anyone about the abuse as it would mean he would be sent to prison. The court heard how the victim said this made her feel scared and sometimes she would pretend to be tired and fall asleep so he would stop. When these allegations were put towards Higham, he self-harmed and was hospitalised but was later interviewed by police and admitted to the abuse. He told officers that something triggered inside of him but he told them he had no sexual interest in children. Mr Watson read out a statement from the victims mother who claimed the sexual abuse committed by Higham has had a massive impact. The statement said that the victim sometimes feels unloved and is undergoing counseling and trauma therapy as a result. Defending, Gary Lawrenson said that prior to these offences, Higham was a man of good character. He told the court how Higham has shown genuine remorse and is willing to engage in any work with the probation services. Mr Lawrenson said: He does not seek to minimise his actions in any way, shape or form. And in a letter to the court, Higham said: There are no words to say how much devastation and remorse I feel. I stand before you with acceptance of any punishment that you deem fit. Higham was handed a four-year prison sentence, issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years and is subject to a restraining order for 10 years. Detective constable Chris Orme said: This young person showed great courage coming forward to report what had been happening. This ultimately meant that Darren Higham could be put in front of the court, where he pleaded guilty to these awful crimes. I hope the sentence brings some closure for the victim. Cheshire Police is committed to protecting children and bringing to justice those who seek to harm them.

Description

A MAN has been jailed for repeatedly sexually abusing a young boy over a four year period during the early 1990s. Philip Boardman, of Winstanley Close in Hood Manor, committed the offences - which began when he was aged 14 - while living in the St Helens area. The 45-year-old denied four counts of indecent assault, one of which was for multiple offending, but was found guilty following a trial and was appearing at Liverpool Crown Court for sentencing. The court heard how Boardman repeatedly molested the boy and forced him to touch him indecently. The court heard that two of the counts would now be classed as rape. They related to two specific instances of the oral rape of the child. Geoffrey Lowe, prosecuting, read a victim impact statement from the boy now aged in his late 30s in which he described suffering from insomnia, anxiety and depression. My depression causes me to have no interest in activities and I lack any motivation to do anything on most days," he wrote. "My depression makes me feel hopeless and empty and angry a lot of the time. I also have terrible self image and have no self importance. What happened in my youth destroyed my mental health and my mental health has been a constant obstacle to everything else in my life. "I have no happy time to get back to. I have no future to focus on. I have never been unafraid or felt safe. Ive never been happy. I have never had a good opinion of the world or the people in it. I trust no one and never relax or let my guard down. That's what it did to me." The court heard that Boardman, a father of two, had no previous convictions. Passing sentence, Judge David Swinnerton, said: "You have a good work history as a healthcare assistant in hospitals, an ambulance technician and more recently for a medical company transporting confidential items including specimens. "Your wife describes you as a caring, fun loving and devoted dad and a very caring husband. Your parents-in-law speak highly of you. "But that happy and productive adult life hid a dark secret." Judge Swinnerton explained that at the time of Boardman's offences, in 1994, the maximum sentence as a 17-year-old, he could have received would have been 12 months detention. The judge said that the culpability of the repeated abuse and the severe psychological harm inflicted would not be adequately reflected by a sentence limited to 12 months. "I agree that the passage of time does not imbue a defendant with any greater culpability or moral responsibility than he had at the time of the offence, but our understanding of harm and culpability in sexual offences has changed since 1994. "In my judgement, this is one of those cases where it is appropriate to go beyond the maximum that could have been imposed when you were 17 and in the interests of justice to do so." He added: "You have not accepted that you have done anything wrong and have shown no remorse." Judge Swinnerton said if Boardman was an adult committing the offences now, then he would have jailed him for around 16 years. He sentenced a tearful Boardman to four years in prison and added that he would have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

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A SEX offender who is banned from being drunk in Warrington Bus Interchange has been jailed after breaching the court order. Kim Rampley was handed sexual offence prevention order in May 2006 at Manchester Crown Court for sexually assaulting a woman. This was then replaced by an indefinite sexual harm prevention order in June 2015. But the 69-year-old has shown little regard for these orders, having now breached them more than a dozen times. Rampley, of no fixed address but formerly of Grange Avenue in Latchford, appeared before Warrington Magistrates Court on Monday, March 21, and admitted breaching a SHPO in relation to an incident three days previously. On this occasion, he was caught intoxicated in the bus station which he is barred from doing under the order on the day before his birthday. He was jailed for 20 weeks by magistrates. One prior breach saw Rampley jailed for two years in October 2007 after harassing five females including two 13-year-old girls in their school uniforms in Warrington within an hour of being released from prison. While serving this sentence, he sent a letter to prison magazine Inside Time complaining about the poor trainspotting opportunities at HMP Walton, also offering a guide on his favourite prisons for this hobby. More recently, he was jailed for 30 weeks in September last year for another breach in Warrington Bus Interchange having drunkenly staggered around the station and soiled himself after being refused entry to a service.

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A PERVERT pestered eight girls aged as young as 11 for naked pictures and even attempted to meet up with two for sex. But, unbeknown to him, shop worker Jordan Hince was actually being ensnared in a paedophile hunter sting. The 22-year-old, from Orford, was jailed for two-and-a-half years on Friday, March 25, for his seven-day campaign of online grooming. Liverpool Crown Court heard that the defendant was involved in lewd chats with the decoy Facebook profiles, who claimed to be aged between over the space of a week in August last year. He also sent a number of the accounts images in which he was exposing himself. Hince, of Poplars Avenue, told them that they would become really cool if they sent him indecent images claiming that all girls do it. The B&M shelf stacker urged a 12-year-old to open her legs and send a picture of her fu fu and pleaded with her not to tell anyone, adding that it would be a secret between them. He said that doing so would make her the most popular and queen of every school. Hince suggested to an 11-year-old that they meet up and walk around town before going to her grandmas house for sex. The paedophile told her that all she had to do was get naked and he would do the rest and that he would help her learn before their meeting. He also asked one 14-year-old if she would be his secret girlfriend, telling her: I love you babe. Hince then made arrangements to meet up with her at Central Station so that they could have secret sex and invited her to stay the night after asking if he could undress her slowly and take pictures of her naked. But he was instead confronted by the paedophile hunters, who made a citizens arrest before calling the police. The defendant who has no previous convictions confessed to officers that he knew what he was doing but wasnt a bad person and admitted that he was turned on. Hince admitted eight counts of attempting to engage in sexual activity with a child, four of attempting to cause a child to look at sexual activity and two charges of attempting to meet a child after grooming during an earlier hearing. Defence barrister Michael Bagley told the court: Its a depressing and saddening picture. It seems he has become a socially isolated individual. Hes a lonely individual and he has a difficult background. Hes not academically a high-flying individual. Over the course of seven days, hes done something of which hes deeply ashamed. He didnt seem to understand the seriousness of it at the time. He is 22, but a good deal younger than that emotionally and intellectually too. Because of his character, it may just be possible to suspend the sentence with a view to actively engage with him so that societys concern in the long run can be addressed. But Hince who was supported in the public gallery by his mum and granddad was imprisoned and handed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order, as well as being told to pay a victim surcharge. Sentencing, judge David Hale said: Over the period of about a week last summer, you engaged in contact with a number of Facebook profiles purporting to be girls aged 11 to 14 years old. You did that quite deliberately. As it turned out, none of them were real children but you werent to know that. You rapidly moved the conversations towards sexual matters. Worryingly, two of them you expressed an interest in meeting. In relation to the 14-year-old, arrangements were made and you went to see her hoping to have sex with her. Fortunately, they were paedophile hunters who behaved very respectfully. You were arrested and nothing in the event happened, but you wanted it to. If you found a 14-year-old girl, you wanted to have sex with her. You have led a lonely and unhealthy life, only supported by your mother. The number of attempts you made to contact children and the fact that you did eventually go and meet one and make plans for another make it impossible for me to release you today.

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A PERVERT who was caught out in a paedophile hunter sting has been sent back to jail. Andrew Mayers, of Kendrick Street in Warrington town centre, was originally jailed for 16 months at Chester Crown Court in December 2018 after being found guilty of a range of sexual offences. This came after the now 44-year-old operating with the username Daddys Girls contacted an online profile he believed was a child and sent a string of vile messages attempting to the groom the youngster. But the account was actually a decoy being operated by the Safeguarding the Innocent paedophile hunter group. Mayers was also told to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years and handed a sexual harm prevention order of the same length, restricting his use of the internet and contact with under 16s. But, in January this year, he was caught in possession of a mobile phone which he refused to produce to police a violation of the court order. And he was imprisoned for a further 16 months at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday, February 21, having admitted breaching a SHPO during an earlier hearing. Mayers was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of 156.

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A man who sexually assaulted a teenage girl was caught after she managed to call a family member who heard much of the attack.

Connor Helps attacked the girl at a flat in Warrington town centre after taking her there in September 2019.

Helps was the second man to attack the girl, despite her being just 17. Another man is currently serving a prison sentence for his crimes.

Arthur Gibson, prosecuting, said Helps had already known the girl but contact between them had stopped when he went to prison for separate offences.

After his release he got back in touch with her and invited her back to a flat in Warrington in mid-September.

Mr Gibson said that despite the girl's continued protests he tried to force his hands down her leggings and assaulted her.

He said: "What the defendant did not know was that at some point during this incident she had managed to call [a family member] and kept him on the phone.

"He had heard much of the incident."

A victim impact statement read out to the court from the girl said the attack continued to have significant effects on her.

Richard Orme, defending, said that despite a difficult upbringing Helps had showed little sign of criminality in his youth before "going off the rails" in his early 20s and committing a number of violent offences.

Mr Orme said: "On any view he has had a troubled childhood. His mother left the family when he was seven years old.

"He then went into foster care with a number of families.

"Such a background will have inevitably had a detrimental impact."

He continued: "I do not use that as an excuse. His behaviour in this case is inexcusable.

"I use it to lay out, perhaps, why at the age of 23 this defendant went off the rails."

Judge Stuart Driver, QC, said Helps' crime was particularly serious because of the trauma his victim had already been through, despite him accepting that Helps likely did not know about this.

Judge Driver said: "Your victim was vulnerable.

"She had already been the victim of a sexual offence, although you may not have known that and I sentence you on the basis that you did not know.

"She was only 17 years of age and her most recent statement shows that this crime had a significant impact on her."

Helps, of no fixed abode, was jailed for 38 months after pleading guilty to assault by penetration.

He will also have to sign on to the sex offenders register for life.

He was also sentenced to one month in prison after failing to turn up to a previous court hearing. That sentence will be served concurrently

Description

A rapist took a mum out on a first date just hours before "crawling like a monster" into her teenage daughter's bed and raping her.

Matthew Philbin and the woman went bowling before heading back to her home for a few drinks when he briefly met her child.

But later that night, he said he was going to the toilet but instead crept into his victim's bedroom and attacked her.

Liverpool Crown Court heard this morning that Philbin, of Dukinfield Farm, Warrington, took his victim's mum out earlier this year but later took advantage of her inviting him back to her home to carry out the booze and coke-fuelled attack.

After briefly meeting his victim, who then went to bed in the evening, Philbin continued his date with her mother at their home - but interviews with police would later state that he went upstairs numerous times "to nose around" the upper floors of the house.

At that time, after he drinking heavily and taking cocaine, he went up to the child's room at the top of the house, walked to her bed and began to crawl on top of her.

She described Philbin as looking like a monster as he attacked her, grabbing her hair and trying to pull off her clothes.

The teenager fought back, kicking him in an attempt to stop him from raping her, but Philbin continued to climb on top of her and threatened to shoot her if she screamed further.

He made her get out of bed and use her phone's torch so he could look at her as he carried out the vile attack, which left her with numerous injuries to her face and head.

When her mother, who had become suspicious of Philbin's absence, heard her screams and rushed to her room he told his victim "to pretend it was all a bad dream" and that it had not really happened.

Her mother immediately saw how distressed her daughter was and managed to get Philbin into the back garden.

Prosecuting, Lee Bonner said: "He was subsequently locked in the back garden wearing only his shorts and socks.

"He had damaged the back door trying to re-enter the house.

"In her statement after the attack the victim's mother described how she felt it was her fault for letting him in the house."

Philbin would deny the attack in interviews with police but later pleaded guilty.

Simeon Evans, defending, said there was little to mitigate the "shocking and appalling" attack - but said that Philbin's attack had been driven by the drugs and drink in his system and that he now understood the disturbing nature of his crime.

He said: "Whilst he does not seek to blame the substances for this case, it was clearly a factor.

"That is perhaps something your honour could take into account, as well as that he has no previous offences of a similar nature."

Calling Philbin a "predatory, violent and determined rapist", Judge Driver jailed him for 13 years, eight of which he will serve in prison with an extended five years on licence.

Addressing the sobbing Philbin, who appeared over video link over HMP Altcourse, the judge told him he only pleaded guilty when presented with "overwhelming evidence" and said: "I am unconvinced that your expressions of remorse are genuine."

Description

A paedophile working as a landscape gardener was caught with child sex abuse images for a second time.

John Andrews was previously been spared jail for having indecent images of children.

But today the 36-year-old was jailed after he was again caught with sick images of boys aged between 12 and 17.

The judge, Recorder Ian Unsworth, QC, sentencing today at Liverpool Crown Court, said the background to the case was "of significance".

In 2016 Andrews was handed a three-year community order for possession of Category C indecent images of children.

He was also ordered to comply with a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and told to complete a sex offender treatment program.

The judge said following the order, Andrews was in breach of his Sex Offenders Register requirement because "you saw fit to go on holiday to Tenerife without informing authorities".

In August last year police went to Andrews' home to ensure he was complying with court orders.

The judge said: "You provided some details about your sex life and other matters as part of the visit, in line with the conditions."

When the officer checked his mobile phone Andrews "appeared to have been looking at pornography, which contradicted what you had been saying".

The phone was sent for further analysis and officers discovered 22 child sex abuse images, 12 of which were unique and not duplicates.

The images showed boys aged between 12 and 17 and three of the images involved rape.

Two of the images were Category B and there were 17 Category C images, the court heard.

The judge said the site was accessed in June, July and August 2020.

Brian Treadwell, prosecuting, said he had searched on the site for terms such as "first time boys" and "very young friends".

Mr Treadwell said Andrews has four previous convictions for six offences including damaging property in 2014, battery in the same year, failing to comply with notification requirements in 2016 and possession of controlled drugs in the same year.

Simeon Evans, defending, said the pictures had been stored on the phone as a consequence of Andrews clicking through links on the website, and said he had not been actively looking for each image through a search engine.

Mr Evans said Andrews has his own gardening and landscaping business.

He said following his previous conviction he undertook a sex offender program which had "not had the best press" and had "led to a complete overhaul of the system".

Mr Evans said: "He is a man who has been able to stay out of trouble for quite a long time."

He said there was a "realistic prospect of rehabilitation" and said he has a medical "XXY issue" and "might suggest Mr Andrews is someone who needs a bit more help than most".

The court heard Mr Andrew's partner, who sat in the public gallery, had provided a character reference.

Mr Evans said: "I submit in this case Mr Andrews could be given one more chance to grasp the help there is."

Andrews, of Cooper Avenue, Warrington, admitted possessing 22 indecent images of children.

The judge said: "I have carefully considered this case. It does present a sentencing challenge."