Latest Offenders Warrington

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POLICE hunting a convicted rapist who was on the run after escaping from prison have made an arrest.

Sex offender Daniel Thompson, from Warrington, absconded from an open prison in south Gloucester.

The 34-year-old was last seen at HMP Leyhill at 11.45am yesterday, Friday, where he was serving a sentence for raping a woman in Warrington in 2009.

However police say he was found and arrested near to Leyhill in South Gloucester by Avon and Somerset Police earlier today, Saturday.

Thompson, of Wilderspool Causeway, raped his victim twice after he forced his way into her flat in April 2009 as she returned from volunteering at her church.

He was given an indeterminate sentence by the courts after the hearing - in one of the worst attacks of recent times.

The jury, which consisted of five women and seven men, heard during the six-day trial there was a one in a billion chance that blood found on defendant Daniel Thompsons sweatshirt belonged to anyone other than the victim or one of her relations.

Judge Stephen Clarke said: These were horrific offences. In the scale of rape they were in the most serious bracket.

The evidence was extremely strong, if not overwhelming.

When she (the victim) was giving evidence on a number of occasions she was actually physically sick.

A police statement said: "If you see Daniel Thompson, who may be using the name Gavin Barry, in Warrington or elsewhere in Cheshire do not approach him.

"Instead call us on 999, quoting IML 484890.

"Alternatively you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

We also want to hear from anyone who has any information regarding his whereabouts."

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A DJ has been jailed after sexually assaulting a young woman while she slept and videoing the act on his mobile phone.

Michael Brady, from Dallam, also gained access to his victim’s phone and emailed himself explicit pictures and videos of the woman.

Today, Thursday, the 41-year-old was jailed for four years at Liverpool Crown Court.

The court heard that Brady, of Hindle Avenue, may have sexually assaulted the woman up to '10 or 11 times' over the course of a number of months in the lead up to this attack in the early hours of a Friday morning in February 2017.

His victim was present as he was sentenced and tearfully read a statement out to the court.

She said: "What has happened to me has affected me more than I ever thought it would - I used to be a confident person, but now I feel lost and broken.

"I feel like the person I once was will never come back - I cry almost on an almost daily basis and I feel nervous about leaving the house.

"Even if there is a knock at the door I feel anxious - this is not the person I used to be.

"After what happened to me , I don't want to be here anymore - it would be easier if I wasn't.

"I feel lost and I have had to deal with what has happened while he lives as though he's done nothing wrong - I don’t understand why he has done this to me, I feel like he's broken me."

Brady, who deleted the videos he had recorded in a bid to cover up his actions, kept his head bowed as his victim addressed the court.

She added that she has suffered from depression, anxiety and sleeping problems since the incident and had even attempted to take her own life.

He had admitted charges sexual assault, voyeurism and securing unauthorised access to data during an earlier hearing at Warrington Magistrates Court last month.

Barrister James Coutts, representing Brady, told the court that his client was 'ashamed and bitterly regrets' his actions.

Sentencing, his honour judge Thomas Teague said: "You have shown no insight into your offending or lamented the effects on your victim.

"You attempted to dispose of evidence by deleting the videos, and you say you were under the influence of alcohol which makes things even worse.

"In my judgement, you have no genuine remorse.

"I'm told that you regret the effects your actions have had on your victim's life - I regard that as sheer humbug."

Brady, who has two previous convictions, was subjected to a restraining order preventing him from contacting his victim indefinitely.

He was also ordered to serve a lifelong notification requirement and to pay a victim surcharge.

PC Nicola Halliwell said: "The defendant has shown no remorse for his behaviour, with the only saving grace being that he chose to plead guilty so the victim did not have to face a trial.

"She has shown patience and dignity throughout the investigation.

"I am extremely proud of her and she should be extremely proud of herself.

"The courage and strength that she has shown throughout such a traumatic experience is nothing short of inspirational and I would hope that today’s result goes some way in assisting her to gain some form of closure so she may move on with her life."

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A SEXUAL predator who encouraged young girls to send sexually explicit images is now behind bars.

Craig Stewart, of Clay Lane, Burtonwood, was sentenced to three years and four months in prison at Liverpool Crown Court on September 14 after pleading guilty to a string of sexual offences.

The court heard how suspicions were raised about the 33-year-old’s behaviour as part of an investigation by British Transport Police in July 2016 into the exploitation of a 15-year-old girl.

When detectives examined the victim’s phone, they identified a series of conversations between her and Stewart.

He was then arrested in September 2016.

Using the alias of John Edwards, the defendant sent messages to a number of young girls, and asked them to share explicit photos of themselves.

Stewart used photographs of unknown teenage boys in order to persuade his unsuspecting victims to send explicit pictures of themselves to him.

He also made efforts to try to meet with his victims, who were from around the country, although this never materialised.

Stewart pleaded guilty to five counts of causing or inciting child prostitution or pornography, eight counts of making indecent images of a child and one count of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

DC Olly Saunders, from British Transport Police, said: “Stewart used an alias of a young boy in order to groom the girls.

“Over a period of time he exploited a number of young girls for his own sexual gratification. The steps he took in order to lure his victims into sharing extremely personal photographs was disgraceful.

“Stewart knew full well that the girls he was speaking with were below the age of 16.

“When we examined his mobile phone and laptop we uncovered some 120 indecent images and videos of children.”

Stewart was also handed a sexual harm prevention order by Judge Anil Murray.

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A paedophile caught with a vile collection of 12,587 images of child abuse was jailed for 15 months.

Daniel Gunson, 45, of Hollybank, Moore, was locked up on Friday at Chester Crown Court having previously pleaded not guilty to six offences of possessing and making indecent images, possessing prohibited images and having extreme pornography involving animals.

‘Deviant’ Gunson was caught after police seized digital devices including a laptop, an external hard drive and a Samsung phone.

Officers trawling the files uncovered a hoard of imagery of sexual abuse of children from babies to older teens.

Sarah Badrawy, prosecuting, said the pictures and videos covered the range of seriousness from the worst in Category A through to Category C.

Judge Patrick Thompson detailed the imagery further, stressing that the public ‘should know the sort of material people are viewing’.

He went onto describe examples of photographs and videos, including clips of infants in visible pain and distress undergoing sexual abuse in ordeals lasting nearly two hours.

Police confirmed more than 12,500 child abuse images from 30,000 images discovered, with a further 138,524 files that were not examined.

There were 2,951 items in Category A, 3,244 in Category B and 6,392 in Category C.

In addition, his search history was littered with terms and recurrent themes relating to still and moving images of offences against children.

Gunson was arrested in 2015 but claimed innocence via a prepared statement after a series of no comment interviews.

The matter was due to go to trial this September but the defendant change his plea in April.

The court heard that a previous partner of Gunson had broken up with him in 1996 after discovering him looking at indecent images, but he claimed he had no idea how they ended up on his computer.

Gunson, in a grey suit, purple shirt and thick black-rimmed glasses, stood blank-faced for the duration of the hearing.

Elderly family members covered their mouths as His Honour Patrick Thompson listed the offences and told Gunson the only place he could go was prison.

Simon Parry, defending, said his client had no previous convictions and had received an indication he would be given a 20%-25% discount for his guilty please from another judge.

He petitioned Judge Thompson for a suspended sentence to enable Gunson so that he could undergo a sexual offenders treatment programme, which would not be available to him in prison.

He added that a probation report had assessed the defendant as being of ‘low risk’ of reconviction, a claim rubbished as ‘utterly astonishing’ by the judge.

Judge Thompson imposed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order on Gunson and ordered that he be placed on the sex offenders’ register, also for 10 years.

Sentencing him, he said: “You entered a defence statement claiming you knew nothing of this material that it somehow appeared on your computer.

“You said you had obtained your computer from someone else and it was their responsibility.

“That wasn’t the case at all.

“You were the person who had downloaded it and you were the person with a deviant interest in material of this kind, material of children being raped, from babies to teenage children.

“You seem to have an interest in all of that.”

He added: “If it wasn’t for people like you with this deviant interest, these children would not be getting raped so I’m afraid you bear responsibility.”

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A MAN who groomed school girls online using a fake profile to masquerade as a teenager is now behind bars. Kevin Whittaker, of Ajax Avenue, Orford, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison at Chester Crown Court on Thursday. The court heard how the 32-year-old used the social networking site Facebook to target vulnerable girls aged between 13 and 15 years. He created a fake Facebook profile and pretended to be a 19-year-old keeping his true identity a secret from his victims. One of the victims parents discovered the inappropriate messages between Whittaker and the victim and alerted police. Officers carried out an extensive investigation into the allegation and were able to identify Whittaker as the suspect in the case. Two further victims were also identified during the course of the enquiries. Whittaker was arrested and later convicted of causing a child under 13 to watch a sexual act, causing a female to engage in sexual activity without consent and causing a child under 13 to watch a sexual act. Chief Inspector Pete Shaw welcomed the sentencing of Whittaker and vowed to continue to target those who prey on the vulnerable and bring them to justice. He said: Cheshire Police will continue to investigate reports of abuse and carry out operations to tackle those who seek to take advantage of young and vulnerable children, working together with the local authority and other agencies to keep children safe. Whittaker is a predator - he actively approached his victims online and was very direct with his intentions. "It is shocking for any parent to find their children have been targeted in such a way and Im sure the families affected will be relieved to find he has been imprisoned.

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A 21-YEAR-OLD pervert has been jailed after watching a woman try on a bikini under her changing room door and groping a woman in the same day.

Sean Taylor, of Layton Close, Birchwood, was out on licence from Appleton Thorn Youth Offenders Institution on July 1, 2012 when he committed both incidents and pleaded guilty to voyeurism and sexual assault.

Warrington Crown Court heard a 22-year-old woman was shopping in Peacocks when she saw the man’s head peering underneath the door and reported it to staff.

Later Taylor grabbed a 35-year-old woman from behind and shouted offensive remarks until she screamed.

Ian Criddle, prosecuting, said: “The changing room victim said she was almost in tears and felt shocked and upset.”

Michael Scholes, defending, said Taylor was ashamed and mortified and had covered his ears during parts of the hearing.

Judge David Hale sentenced him to 10 months imprisonment.