Latest Offenders

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A child abuser who "smuggled" a girl past police officers and gave her a sexual infection has been jailed for 13 and a half years.

Curtis Cruickshank, 21, breached a sexual risk order (SRO) by messaging the 15-year-old girl on WhatsApp before carrying out a number of sex acts with her, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Judge Stephen Earl said Cruickshank was a "dangerous" offender who posed a "very high risk of serious harm" to children and women.

Cruickshank admitted 19 offences including penetrative sexual activity with a child. He will have to serve a further six years on extended licence upon his release from prison.

'Hid from police'

Cruickshank, of no fixed address, was made subject of an SRO in 2021, part of which banned him from contacting children online after earlier sexual offending, the court heard.

He had already breached that order 11 times, including by deleting his internet search history and failing to hand his phone over to police for inspection, when he contacted the girl in November 2023, prosecutor David Povall said.

Despite being told she was 15, he quickly turned the chat sexual and made her watch sexual videos of him while encouraging her to film herself, the court heard.

Within days he had met her several times around Newcastle and performed multiple violating sex acts, which the girl described as rough and painful.

On one occasion he took her to his home, but the pair were spotted by a CCTV operative who, knowing of the SRO, alerted police, Mr Povall said.

Officers went to the house but Cruickshank hid both himself and the girl before "smuggling" her out later, the prosecutor said.

'Victim blaming'

The offences came to light when the girl feared she might be pregnant and told her father.

She was found not to be pregnant but a test revealed she had chlamydia, which Cruickshank had given her.

In a statement read to the court, the girl said she had not realised the "enormity" of what had happened and she was an "easy target" for Cruickshank, adding: "He preyed upon my vulnerability."

Judge Earl said when challenged about his offending, Cruickshank sought to "victim blame".

He said Cruickshank, who also admitted meeting the girl after sexually grooming her, had been assessed as posing a "very high risk of serious harm" to children and women.

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

Speaking after sentencing, Det Con Claire Ashurst of Northumbria Police said Cruickshank was a repeat offender who had shown a "constant and unwavering sexual interest in children".

She said he "continually and brazenly ignored" a court order and had been "repulsive".

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Following a Thames Valley Police investigation, a man has been sentenced to prison for a series of sex offences in Banbury.

Robert Coleman, aged 42, of Swan Road, Gloucester, was sentenced to a total of 15 years in prison following a hearing at Oxford Crown Court on Friday 28 March.

Coleman has also been placed on the sex offenders register for life, the sexual harm prevention order for life and given restraining order for life on each of the victims.

Coleman pleaded guilty to one count each of assault of a female aged 13 and over by penetration with part of body/thing, take an indecent photograph/pseudo photograph of a child and distribute an indecent photograph/pseudo photograph of a child. Coleman also pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual assault in the same hearing.

In May 2021, Coleman used a social media account to upload indecent images of a child. Further intelligence obtained by the Online Child Abuse Investigation Team, tracked these images to an address in Banbury, and officers executed a warrant and arrested Coleman on suspicion of voyeurism.

During police interviews, Coleman denied taking indecent images of a child, but admitted to uploading these images and videos to the social media platform.

After seizing Coleman’s mobile phone, officers discovered 279 indecent images and videos of children and women on his device. During police interviews, Coleman answered with ‘no comment’ to all questions.

Coleman was arrested on 8 July 2021 and charged on 8 November 2024.

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A registered sex offender from Maidstone has been jailed for six years after he used the internet to send explicit images and messages to a user he believed to be a young child. 

On 17 July 2024, a Kent Police offender management team was alerted to suspicious activity linked to Terry Coleman’s use of social media.

Coleman, 60, had been subject to the terms of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) following previous convictions for illegal child images, and began interacting with a Snapchat user purporting to be a teenage girl.

For the two weeks that followed, Coleman bombarded the account with sexualised messages and explicit photos and videos of himself.

He encouraged her to engage in inappropriate conversation, and requested she engage in sexual activity and share intimate photos.

On 1 August, officers attended Coleman’s home address in McKenzie Close, Aylesford and arrested him.

A search led to the seizure of a smart TV, capable of accessing the internet, which Coleman had not registered with Kent Police as required by the SHPO.

Guilty pleas

Coleman was charged the same day with attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child, causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, and causing a child to look at a sexual image.

He also admitted breaches of his Sexual Harm Prevention Order, failing to comply with notification requirements, and possession of cannabis.

He pleaded guilty and was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court on 2 April 2025 to six years' imprisonment. 

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A 58-year-old man from Newport has been jailed for four years after he admitted sexually assaulting a child on the Isle of Wight.

Adrian Stone appeared at Isle of Wight Crown Court on Monday 13 January where he pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault on a female and one count of breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

He was sentenced to a total of four years in prison with an additional extended license period of four years at the same court on Thursday 3 April. He is also subject to a Restraining Order and a new Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Stone had made contact with a girl he knew under the age of 16 on 3 September 2024, messaging her out of the blue to suggest they go fishing together.

On 17 September, Stone picked up the girl in his car and took her for a drive unsupervised and without her parents’ consent.

At this time, Stone was subject to a SHPO – handed to him following a previous sexual offence conviction – which prohibited him from having unsupervised contact of any kind with any girl under the age of 16, without the consent of the child’s parent and on the proviso that the parent had knowledge of his previous conviction.

The girl was driven to a secluded location near the River Medina where Stone sexually assaulted her. He then drove her home, but refused to let her out of the car until she hugged him. The girl agreed, at which point Stone gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Stone continued to message the girl after the incident, but the girl subsequently disclosed the messages and the assaults to friends and family.

He was later arrested by police and initially denied everything in interview, before admitting to police that he had lied to officers about the messages to the victim.

However, he continued to deny the sexual assaults, but soon admitted these when he appeared in court.

Stone, of Horsebridge Hill in Newport, also pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual communications with a child when he appeared before Magistrates on 11 November 2024.

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A child sex offender who raped a number of survivors has been convicted in court following a robust investigation by officers from our public protection unit.

Jamie Carnochan, 27, of Stafford, was found guilty on all the counts he was charged with following a trial at Stafford Crown Court on Wednesday (2 April).

We started investigating him in 2018 after one of the survivors bravely came forward and told officers what he did.

Officers began a robust investigation to gather evidence of his crimes and uncovered a number of other survivors. Some of them were children at the time of the offences and others were over 18.

We worked extremely hard to get all of the evidence needed and to support the survivors as much as possible.

Carnochan was charged with two counts of raping a girl, three counts of raping a woman and two counts of engaging in sexual activity with a girl.

A jury deemed him guilty of all of the crimes because of the evidence that was presented in court.

He has been remanded in custody ahead of his sentencing date.

Description

A sex offender has been returned to jail after he was caught sending explicit messages to a person he thought was a 13-year-old girl.

In reality, 52-year-old Andrew Bray was speaking with a member of an online activist group, who then informed the police.

When Bray was arrested at his home in Sutton on December 22 last year, he correctly predicted he would ‘go back to prison’ as a result.

In a series of messages exchanged on a social media platform, he had encouraged his intended victim to engage in an explicit act.

Despite his initial burst of honesty, Bray gave no comment answers to all the questions asked of him in his police interview.

However, he later pleaded guilty to attempting to incite a girl into sexual activity.

He also admitted to breaching a sexual harm prevention order imposed after a previous offence to prevent him harming children online.

Bray, formerly of Willowbridge Lane, Sutton, appeared at Nottingham Crown Court on March 31 and was jailed for a total of eight years.

Det Con Sophie Lee, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Men like Bray are an active danger to children, who they seek to manipulate and corrupt for their own sexual gratification.

“Happily, on this occasion no real child was harmed.

"We know, however, but those young children who are enticed by online predators like Bray can suffer lasting psychological harm as a result.

“I am pleased he has now been returned to jail where he can pose no further harm to children.”

Description

A "monster" who raped two women he targeted through dating apps has been jailed for 12 years and seven months.

Daniel Holland, 39, was on police bail for raping a woman in southern England when he launched a similar attack on another woman on Wearside, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Holland admitted two counts of rape and wounding the first woman, having broken her ribs in an assault.

He was also jailed concurrently for a year for sending sexually explicit messages to what he thought was a 13-year-old girl, but was actually an online child abuse hunting group.

Holland, who worked as a Royal Navy harbour pilot for more than 20 years, was living in the Bournemouth area when he contacted the profile of a girl on Facebook and told her she looked "stunning", prosecutor Daniel Cordey said.

Despite being told the girl was 13, messages quickly became sexual, with Holland describing in graphic detail acts he wanted to perform with her and telling her he bet she "looked good in her school uniform".

'Targeted for vulnerability'

The profile was actually run by the Online Child Safety Team who reported him to police, with Holland telling officers it was "drunken flirtation" and he did not know the girl's age.

He was eventually found guilty of that offence at Bournemouth Crown Court, the court heard, but before that case concluded Holland raped a woman he met on Plenty of Fish and broke her ribs in an attack.

He was charged with rape and released on bail, moving to the Newcastle area, the court heard.

A day after arriving in the North East, Holland "very quickly" targeted a second victim on Tinder because of her "perceived vulnerability," Mr Cordey said, and within a week had raped her.

He had initially denied both rapes but changed his pleas for the first woman on the second day of his trial and for the second woman shortly before a jury was sworn in.

'Unswerving selfishness'

In a statement read to the court, the first woman said Holland was a "monster" who left her in "so much pain".

She said she now needed counselling and antidepressants.

The second woman said she was a "totally different person" because of Holland, adding she suffered flashbacks and felt "angry and frustrated".

In mitigation, Susannah Proctor said Holland had lost his job in the Merchant Navy because of the child sex case and was drinking heavily at the time of the rapes.

She said he was "deeply shocked by his conduct" and apologised to his victims.

Judge Edward Bindloss said the women were "taken in" by Holland on the dating apps but had their trust "shattered".

He said Holland posed a "high risk of harm" to women and children, and showed a "complete disregard" for his victims and had an "unswerving commitment to [his] own selfish needs".

Having been deemed "dangerous" by the judge, Holland must also serve an extra five years on extended licence upon his eventual release from prison.

Holland, of no fixed abode, was also made subject to a sexual harm prevention order banning him from contacting children online and must sign the sex offenders register for life.

Restraining orders stopping him from contacting his victims were also made to last for 15 years.

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A “spiritual” Fife tearoom boss convicted of sexually assaulting six women at his Leven cafes has been re-sentenced.

Alistair Burns targeted his victims at the Trudor Tearoom or Daunder In – doors apart in Forth Street – during a period spanning January 2019 to October 2023.

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A police officer who raped a woman he met on a dating website has been jailed for eight years.

PC Stuart Mines, 49, was off-duty when the attack took place at his home in Devon in October 2022.

Following his conviction by a jury following a trial at Exeter Crown Court he was sacked by Devon and Cornwall Police after more than 20 years’ service.

In a victim impact statement, the woman said she had suffered severe mental trauma following the rape and had been unable to work as a result.

“Emotionally, I’ve been a total wreck. I’ve spent endless nights unable to sleep, feeling worthless and violated by the actions of this horrid person,” she told the court.

“Mines has ripped my confidence away. Every time I hear a police siren, see a police car or a police officer, it has triggered panic and nausea, and has been and still is a constant reminder of what he has done.

“He completely destroyed my faith in men and the police force.

“How can someone in a position of trust who as a police officer, who should have integrity, respect, empathy, courage, fairness and accountability, do what he did as a police officer?

“As a man, he should have been trustworthy, law-abiding and morally respectful to women. He was none of these.

“I trusted him because he was a police officer, but he broke the law, he raped, lied and treated me with such disdain, being abusive and humiliating me whilst he laughed and thought it was funny, laughing at my distress.”

Kelly Scrivener, defending, said Mines had found being remanded into prison a difficult experience because of his policing career.

“The media coverage of the trial verdict meant that that the people he was placed alongside on that wing realised he was a police officer, now a former police officer,” she said.

“That identification has led to extra problems that have been managed successfully by the prison but continue to have to be managed because of threats and comments.”

Jailing Mines for eight years, Judge Stephen Climie said he had “torn apart” his victim’s life and said the attack had caused her significant harm.

“I have considered very carefully the extent to which the offence of rape was the primary trigger for many of the issues which are detailed in her victim personal statement,” he said.

“In my judgment, having watched and listened to her, I am satisfied that the impact of this event can be described as severe, some might go so far as to say even extreme.”

The judge said the offence was aggravated by the fact Mines was a serving police officer at the time.

“It is aggravated to an extent by virtue of the fact that you as a serving police officer at that time could and should have been somebody who, and I quote your victim, were capable of being described as somebody with integrity, respect, empathy, courage, fairness and accountability,” he said.

“In respect of accountability, you are now being held to account.

“In respect of other matters, I make it clear that, as with any walk in life, there may well be a bad apple or two within any given profession who as a result of their behaviour, attach a degree of blame to others within that role.

“Your conviction should not, in my judgment, in any way, shape or form, impact upon the integrity of the police generally, least of all, the Devon [and] Cornwall Constabulary, who do operate appropriately with integrity, respect, empathy, courage and fairness.”

The judge also placed Mines on the sex offenders’ register for life and imposed an indefinite restraining order not to contact his victim.

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A sex offender guilty of child abuse in Dundee was placed on a community payback order for three years.

A judge told Brandon Harrington, 26, at the High Court in Edinburgh she was satisfied that there was an alternative to a custodial disposal in his case.

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Following an investigation by Thames Valley Police, a man has been jailed for sexual offences in Berkshire.

John-Paul Walker, aged 44, of g has been sentenced to nine years in prison, with an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order put in place.

Following an eight day trial at Reading Crown Court, a unanimous jury found Walker guilty of one count of sexual assault by penetration and one count of attempted rape.

The offences happened in Berkshire in 2018, when the victim, a girl, was in her teens.

Investigating officer, Detective Constable Kelly Ware said: “Thames Valley Police will always investigate sexual offences, no matter when they took place.

“These offences occurred in 2018 and were reported to us in 2022. Walker was arrested the same year and following an investigation was charged in 2023.

“I’m pleased that the jury believed the weight of evidence against Walker and found him guilty of the offences, which he has now been jailed for nine years.

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A man has been jailed for a total of 25 years for the rape and sexual abuse of a child in Gosport.

Sean Healy, aged 76, was charged with two counts of raping a girl under the age of 13, four counts of assaulting a girl under the age of 13 by touching, and one count of assault by penetration of a girl under the age of 13.

The offences were all committed against one girl between 17 November 2014 and 16 November 2020, with the abuse taking place at Healy’s home address in Maynard Close, Gosport.

Healy denied the offences, and the case went to trial at Portsmouth Crown Court on 21 October 2024. On 25 October, Healy was found guilty of all seven charges by a majority jury verdict.

Appearing at the same court on Monday 31 March 2025, Healy was jailed for a total of 25 years in prison.

During the sentencing hearing the court heard a statement from the victim, which included the following: “I have let what Mr Healy put me through drag me down for the past years and it has drained me. To this day I have been letting the trauma hold me back from achieving my goals. Today is the last day Mr Healy will hold me back”.  

DC Lucy Allan, from the Child Abuse Investigation Team, said: “Sean Healy is a dangerous individual who continuously abused a child over a number of years, starting when the girl was very young.

“The bravery of this girl in speaking to police and reliving the most traumatic moments of her childhood is to be commended. Her courage has ensured that Healy has been sent to prison where he cannot harm another child.

“Crimes of this nature are some of the worst that police have to investigate, but we will do everything we can to safeguard those who have been abused, secure justice for them, and relentlessly pursue the criminals who prey on the most vulnerable members of society such as children.”

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A sex offender who raped a teenage boy in a Nottingham park has been jailed.

The victim, then aged 17, had gone for a walk through the Forest Recreation Ground on 18 July 2024 around 11.30pm.

He encountered a man, now known to be Mohammed Darweesh, who he believed was drunk and who began to pester him.

The victim tried to move away from 24-year-old Darweesh but he kept blocking his path.

He believed Darweesh was armed with a knife and agreed to follow him away from the path where the sexual assault took place.

Darweesh fled from the scene on foot with the teenager’s watch and a £10 note.

A passer-by pursued Darweesh in his van and the attacker dropped the watch on the floor.

Darweesh was later struck by a car in Mapperley Road around 4am the following day after members of the public saw him lying in the road.

He was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Darweesh was identified as a suspect by detectives following forensic and other inquiries and was arrested when he was released from Queen’s Medical Centre.

Darweesh, of no fixed abode, was handed an extended jail sentence of nine-and-a-half years when he appeared at Nottingham Crown Court for sentencing on Tuesday (1 April).

Upon release he will also be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order to protect vulnerable people.

He had pleaded guilty to rape and attempted rape.

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A married man who sexually assaulted three victims at a hotel spa has walked free from court.

Dad-of-two Zia Khan targeted a teenager and two women while they were in a jacuzzi and pool area.

The 'arrogant' 48-year-old later lied and claimed that his victims had fabricated the allegations against him.

Nottingham Crown Court heard how how Khan touched the victims inappropriately while they used spa facilities at the Village Hotel, in Attenborough.

The sex attacks took place in April and May 2023, prosecutor Anthony Cheung said.

The first sex assault involved a teenage girl who was in the jacuzzi at the hotel.

He sat next to her in the jacuzzi before inappropriately touching her, NottinghamshireLive reports.

Mr Cheung said: "At first, (she) thought it was an accident. But it then happened again.

"She was too scared to say anything. She looked to one of her friends for help.

"Upon seeing this, the defendant got out of the jacuzzi and walked away."

In the second attack, one woman was getting into the water when she saw Khan walking towards her.

Khan inappropriately touched her as he walked past her.

The prosecutor added: "Later that night, at around 8.30pm, the third victim was in the jacuzzi with her friend and the defendant.

"The defendant had started to submerge himself under the water."

"Once submerged, the victim felt a foot touch her foot.

"She immediately moved away as she thought it was an accident. But this occurred again."

Mr Cheung said Khan went on to inappropriately touch the woman.

The incident was reported to staff, with Khan arrested two days later.

After his sex attacks, the victims told police the perpetrator was wearing yellow swimming shorts.

These were seized from Khan's home in Bramcote, Nottinghamshire, when he was arrested.

Laura Hocknell, defending, said: "He is not devoid of any insight, he has said how sorry he is and he shows a degree of victim empathy.

"He’s had to take a long, hard look at himself.

"It has been humiliating for him but the other side of him is that he’s worked all of his life and is the father to two children."

Judge Michael Auty KC said Khan came across as 'arrogant' during his trial when he told jurors how his victims had made up their claims.

But he went on to say that Khan's conviction and public outing in the media has made him a 'different man' who feels humiliated by his actions.

Judge Auty said: "No man worthy of the name ever sexually assaults a woman, end of. It is despicable behaviour which was degrading and humiliating for them.

"You might say it is nothing more than a bit of fun for you but this can have the most profound and long-lasting effect on wholly innocent women.

"They did not deserve what you did to them and you denied the offences saying they had all made it up.

"Imagine for just one moment what your reaction would be if someone would have done that to your beloved wife or your beloved daughter.

"You would be furious and rightly so.

"I make it plain that the women who came forward were extraordinarily brave and none of them did anything wrong.

"Sending you to prison would send out a powerful message that this sort of behaviour will not be tolerated [and] during the trial you came across as rather arrogant but you are a different man today.

"Inevitable humiliation has come your way, finding yourself in the press and what that has done to you in your community.

"There’s a large part of me that wants to send you to custody but that would not compensate those victims and there would be no input and intervention from the probation service and you might well go out and do this again."

Khan, of Rivergreen Crescent, was handed a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years, for three counts of sexual assault.

He was made subject to a 35-day rehabilitation activity requirement and told to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work .

The sex offender must pay £1,000 compensation to two of the victims and £750 to the third.

Khan was also handed a 10-year restraining order banning him from going to the Village Hotel complex and he must remain on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

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A convicted sex offender claimed he got a ‘bad email’ when he was caught looking at pornography on a library computer.

Keith Smith, 72, had an iPhone plugged into the computer when he was confronted by someone who saw him viewing images of semi-naked women.

He was sat next to a young girl at the time, Manchester Crown Court heard. After being confronted, he claimed he had ‘received a bad email’. He was later identified through library records and police asked him to produce the phone for analysis. Smith refused.

“He said he had borrowed his friend’s phone to take pictures of the gas and electric meters,” prosecutor Olivia Gatfield said.

Smith, from Levenshulme, admitted breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) imposed in 2011 after he was caught with indecent images of children. One of the conditions stated he must show his internet history on request by the police.

His barrister, Naomi Duckworth said he didn’t own a smartphone, so used a friend’s. He was concerned police would go to his friend ‘gun’s blazing’ so refused to provide their details, she added.

Smith’s behaviour showed ‘poor judgement’, but no charges were brought against him - only for breaching the SHPO - Ms Duckworth added.

Handing him a suspended jail term, Judge Hilary Manley said: “The reason you came to the attention of the police is because you were in a library accessing pornography whilst sitting near a little girl.

“The excuse you gave for not handing over the phone to the police, I find, is not believable. Breaches like this are taken very seriously by the courts.”

Ms Gatfield earlier told the court that on October 28, 2023, a woman was at the Arcadia Library in Levenshulme using a computer, when her attention was drawn to Smith’s screen. On the screen was a woman with her breasts concealed by a plant, she said.

“The defendant was seen scrolling over several photos which were clearly of a sexual nature," the prosecutor said. "He was sitting next to a girl."

The woman confronted Smith. He denied the images were explicit and left. When he was later arrested and interviewed he told officers that while taking pictures of his gas and electric meters he got a ‘sudden urge’ to search for an adult film star.

The court heard he had three convictions for 21 offences, the majority of which were for sex offences.

Defence counsel Ms Duckworth said her client suffered with anxiety and depression. “The defendant explained he did not give the police details of where he got the phone from as he was concerned the police would go in ‘gun’s blazing’,” she added.

A presentence report prepared by the probation service found he had not been open about his behaviour and sought to ‘make excuses’.

Smith, of Stanhope Street, Levenshulme, was handed an eight month jail term suspended for 18 months. He must complete an accredited programme, 15 days of rehabilitation activity requirements and pay £150 court costs.