Latest Offenders

Description

A sex offender who grabbed a woman and tried to kiss her has been jailed. Bhavesh Voralia, 50, attacked the victim in a block of flats in The Drive, Peterborough, at about 9am on September 3 2021.

He grabbed her breasts and smacked her, telling her he loved her. The terrified victim then managed to run back to her flat.

On Tuesday (August 8, 2023), at Cambridge Crown Court, Voralia, of The Drive, Peterborough, was jailed for one year, having been found guilty of sexual assault and two counts of failing to comply with Sex Offenders Register notification requirements.

Voralia had been on the register since being convicted of another sexual assault at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on June 13 last year. However, he flew from Heathrow Airport to Ahmedabad in India three days later, meaning he did not notify police within three days of his conviction, of his name, date of birth and home address, as required.

It also meant he’d failed to notify the police no less than seven days in advance of any intended period of foreign travel.

PC Mohsin Raja said: “This was a despicable assault by Voralia and I would like to thank the victim for her cooperation with us in seeking a prosecution.

“In failing to adhere to his notification requirements, he has shown a blatant disregard for the law.”

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The victim of vile sexual and physical cruelty as a child described the abuse she suffered as a ‘tattoo for all to see’.

The woman was in court on Monday (August 14) to see now 80-year-old Lionel Wood finally face justice for his years of abuse, committed when she was a child some four decades ago in Banbury.

In June, jurors at Oxford Crown Court heard how he repeatedly molested the girl, including subjecting her to what now would have been charged as oral rape of a child.

He was found guilty in less than an hour and a quarter of four counts of indecent assault.

In an impact statement read to the court by prosecutor Brian Reece, the victim said her earliest memories were of being physically and sexually abused by a man she ‘should have been able to trust’. 

She described the abuse as making her feel like ‘damaged goods’, comparing it to a tattoo ‘for all to see’. “It’s something you can’t hide from,” she said.

The woman detailed how she had struggled with physical ill-health, difficulties with self-destructive substance misuse, depression, suicidal thoughts and a series of abusive relationships.

“[The defendant] made me feel intense fear, humiliation, like a possession to be controlled and used at will,” she said.

The girl was molested while she was alone with the defendant. The abuse developed, with the girl subjected to what would now have been charged as oral rape of a child but at the time was an offence called indecent assault.

In her impact statement, the victim detailed an awful catalogue of physical abuse at Wood’s hands, although he faced no criminal charges for physically assaulting the girl.

Recorder Samantha Presland jailed him for 14 years, telling the defendant: “What should have been happy childhood memories have been completely and utterly distorted.”

He will serve two-thirds of the sentence in custody before being eligible for release.

In mitigation, Catherine Ravenscroft said her client continued to deny wrongdoing and, since being remanded in prison after his trial, had made an attempt on his life.

He was particularly concerned for his elderly partner, who was in her 90s and for whom he was providing a significant amount of support before he was remanded in custody.

The judge imposed an indefinite restraining order, preventing Wood, of Broadway, Worcestershire, from contacting his victim for the rest of his life.

Having been jailed for 14 years, he will also remain on the sex offender register indefinitely.

Description

A murderer who strangled a teenager to death before leaving her half naked body in a field has walked free from court after breaching rules imposed on him by the courts.

James Duggan was found guilty of the murder of Rebecca Ryle in Australia back in 2006 and was jailed for life, having emigrated Down Under from Liverpool as a child. He has since been released from this sentence and was deported back to the UK last year, but has continued to have brushes with the law.

Liverpool Crown Court heard today, Monday, that the now 38-year-old was subject to indefinite notification requirements in January this year after being convicted of breaching a sexual risk order (SRO) and battery. Duggan, of School Lane in Rainhill, had been given this SRO in August 2022 following his return to this country due to a "sexual motive" behind the killing.

Shannon Stewart, prosecuting, described how he then failed to inform his offender manager of a relationship he had formed with a woman as he was required to do as part of the order, which the police became aware of after an incident in which he punched her in the stomach. The killer was released from this 26-week sentence on July 11 and was required to sign the sex offenders' register within the following three days, but failed to do so.

Duggan was subsequently arrested again on July 17 and told detectives under interview that he had "phoned probation but got no reply". He has been remanded in custody since.

The defendant received life imprisonment with a minimum term of 11 years in April 2006, having been convicted of Ms Ryle's murder. The Western Australian Supreme Court heard during his trial that Duggan, who moved to the country from Merseyside aged 11, had met his 19-year-old victim in a pub in Perth on the evening of May 5, 2004 and offered to walk her home.

But he then strangled her for three minutes in a park just metres away from her home and left her half-naked body in a field, to be found by police officers a few hours later. Justice Lindy Jenkins said she had died "alone and degraded", with her murderer - who was also a teen at the time - ultimately serving nearly 18 years.

Duggan was refused parole following a hearing in 2019, due in part to his "lack of acknowledgement of wrongdoing and apparent lack of remorse". But his case was reviewed again in September 2021, when the Attorney General recommended his release after he had "imparted remorse and regret towards the offence, as well as acknowledging the victim" - leading to him being freed in March 2022 and later deported.

Ken Heckle, defending, told the court that his client had gone to an address on Round Hey in Stockbridge Village following his latest release, having been instructed to live there by the Probation Service. He was also ultimately found at this house and detained.

Mr Heckle added: "He goes to where he is directed to go, but simply forgets to advise the police. This is not somebody who has gone off the radar.

"It is not a sinister breach. It is a breach borne out of stupidity.

"There are family members on Merseyside who still are supportive of him. His grandmother is certainly one of them.

"The defendant maintains that he has been drug-free since January. He is fit and healthy and is trying to rehabilitate himself into the country.

"Circumstances have got in his way and he can only blame himself, but in this instance it is more of a technical breach rather than a sinister breach and someone trying to avoid the authorities. I ask your honour to give him this one chance."

Duggan, who appeared in the dock wearing a white t-shirt and black Adidas tracksuit bottoms and sported greying dark hair and a beard, admitted failing to comply with notification requirement and failing to comply with a suspended sentence order. He was handed a nine-month imprisonment suspended for two years, 180 hours of unpaid work, a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 30 days, a six-month alcohol abstinence requirement and a 12-month drug rehabilitation requirement as well as being told to complete a relationships programme.

Sentencing, Recorder David Knifton KC said: "This is not a case of going off the radar, it is simply a case of failing to notify the police of the address at which you were living. I am unable to accept that this is an inadvertent breach.

"You have a history of drug and alcohol misuse. This is your second breach in the first six months of the order being made.

"I am satisfied, given the acceptance on your part of the seriousness of your offending and your need to address your underlying issues, that this is a case in which I can suspend the sentence of imprisonment I must impose. There is, in your case, a realistic prospect of rehabilitation."

Description

A "dangerous" man has been jailed for 13 years and 8 months after pleading guilty to sexual offences relating to two children in Hertfordshire.

Michael Hargrave, 31, from Loch Crescent in Edgware, admitted six charges at St Albans Crown Court on August 10.

He was arrested at and address in Kings Langley on May 11, 2023, after a 14-year-old girl from Hemel Hempstead reported engaging in sexual activity with a man she had met online.

While Hargrave was in custody, further investigations found there was a nine-year-old victim in Hemel Hempstead, whom officers were then able to safeguard.

He had been speaking to the girl via Snapchat using his online alias.  

Hargrave was subsequently charged with:

• Two counts of sexual communication with a child.
• Three counts of sexual activity with a child.
• Two counts of causing a child to watch a sexual act.
• One count of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activities.
• Three counts of a breach of sexual harm prevention order.
• One count of failure to comply with notification requirements.

The offences took place between January 2022 and April of this year.

Hargrave met both victims initially on Snapchat and then arranged to meet the 14-year-old victim in person, and subsequently committed offences against her.

Detective Sergeant Sam Jarvis, from the child online safeguarding team, said: “This was a good result for the team, who have taken another very dangerous offender off the streets thanks to the bravery of the two victims.

“We will continue to identify and proactively target those within Hertfordshire who pose a sexual risk towards children.”

His sentence was extended for another five years on licence, he will be on the Sex Offenders' Register, and must abide indefinitely by the conditions of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Licence conditions are a set of rules that an individual must follow if they are released from prison but still have part of their sentence to serve in the community.

The licence can be revoked, and an individual can be recalled to custody at any time during the licence period if the probation service considers that an individual has breached conditions of their licence.

Description

A sex offender who raped a young girl in Birmingham has been jailed for 18 years.

Daniel Guest carried out a sickening series of attacks against the girl over five years. Guest told the girl – who was under 16 - on a number of occasions not to say anything about the abuse, telling her no-one would believe her. Thankfully, she bravely came forward and reported him, resulting in his arrest.

When interviewed by officers, Guest even tried to blame the girl for making up stories and looking for attention. Despite this, a strong case was built against Guest, and he was convicted in May of rape of a child, sexual assault against a child and causing or inciting sexual activity with a child. Guest, from Birmingham, was sentenced on 2 August and will also be on the sex offenders register for life.

‘We are committed to investigating and convicting sexual predators who abuse young children’

Detective Sergeant Nicky Simms, from the Complex Child Abuse Investigation team, said: "I would like to commend the victim in having the courage to report this matter to the police, and to relive the horror of this abuse.

"I hope this conviction shows that West Midlands Police are committed to investigating and convicting sexual predators who abuse young children, and I would encourage anyone who has been the victim of any such offences to come forward.

“We have specialist officers who will support you through every step of the investigation and criminal justice process. We also have links with a number of partner agencies who can support and offer you the opportunity to have your voice heard and not silenced by your abuser.

"By coming forward, you could not only get justice for yourself, you can also be a part of protecting other people who may become victims of this kind of abuse."

Description

A man has been spared jail after sexually abusing a girl when he was 10-years-old by acting out his porn fantasies.

Daniel Shufflebotham-Reeve, now 25, played out sex acts on a younger girl he’d watched in online pornography, a court heard.

At the time, Shufflebotham-Reeve, of Kidlington, Oxfordshire, was not brought to justice, despite the victim's teacher being aware of the allegations.

The police only became involved in 2019 when the defendant walked into the business where his victim was working. 

After a conversation with her partner, she reported the abuse she faced back in primary school. In court, she said much of her life has been spent "crying and refusing to leave the house" because of the sexual abuse.

A jury at Oxford Crown Court last month found him guilty of four charges, including rape and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

In a victim impact statement read to Shufflebotham-Reeve’s sentencing hearing on Wednesday (September 20), the woman said: "So much of my life has been wasted crying and refusing to leave the house due to extreme anxiety, all because of him and what he did to me."

She would "never forgive" her abuser or understand why he carried out the sexual abuse, she said.

The court heard that he had played out sexual acts he had seen in pornography watched on his laptop.

He both sexually assaulted her and got the girl, who was younger than him, to carry out sex acts on him.

Shufflebotham-Reeve warned his victim that, if she did not do as he asked, he would "tell everyone and no one would love her".

Sentencing, Judge Maria Lamb told the defendant, who continues to deny that the incidents happened: "You committed upon that little girl acts which no child should have to endure. She wanted none of it."

Had he been an adult when he carried out the abuse, he could have expected years behind bars, the court heard.

However, because he was only just of an age when he could be prosecuted, it was likely he would have received a type of youth court community order – called a youth rehabilitation order – had his case been dealt with when he was 10 or 11.

By law, judges dealing with adults who committed their crimes when under-18 must take into account the sentence a defendant would have received if they were dealt with as a child.

Judge Lamb imposed a two year community order, saying: "I think, taking all these matters into consideration, the likely sentence had I been dealing with you as a 10-year-old would have been one of a youth rehabilitation order.

"The circumstance of the offending cry out, it seems to me, for the type of help that would offer.

"I can see no reason for departing from that approach to sentencing, where you have gone on to lead a life in which you have not offended further."

The judge gave an extensive set of sentencing remarks, recognising the sensitivities of the case. She noted that the defendant and his victim had been known to each other and, as children do, had ‘held hands’. 

"Sadly, that acting out of adult acts went beyond the playground and on occasions when the two of you were together in your bedroom you showed her the discovery you had made on your laptop: pornography,” Judge Lamb said.

"You wanted to do the same with her and you told her you wanted to copy it and the expressions she remembers you using to her – for example, ‘you’re making me this way’ – was you I am sure, echoing the sort of expressions you had heard spoken by adults in the footage that you had viewed."

She added of the victim: "She said that you told her if she did what you wanted, whether that was an act done to her by you […] or getting her to do acts to you […] if you complied with that it wouldn’t happen again.

"If she didn’t do it, you would tell everyone and no one would love her. She was scared to go to your house because she feared what might happen. She was more scared of the consequences if she didn’t.

"She was ashamed of what you had made her do and, of course, it goes without saying she has no cause to reproach herself for that which you did to her." 

The judge hit out at the ‘corrosive impact’ on children of watching adult pornography, quoting from a pre-sentence report written by an experienced probation officer.

"‘It,’ he says, ‘would be difficult to overstate how damaging the consumption of pornographic material could be to a child’s sexual development.’ He refers to the corrosive impact of the routine consumption of online pornography and that is as far as adults let alone children are concerned.

"With those sentiments, I agree."

Mitigating, Sumita Mahtab-Shaikh said her client had been suspended from his job as a receptionist at the Premier Inn. There were question marks over whether he would be able to continue working at the hotel.

He was supported by a number of character references that spoke of ‘highly of him now’, the barrister said.

Description

A man attempted to rape a young woman at a party then tried to paint her as a liar. Joshua Harries' victim was left so traumatised by the attack that she barely left her home for weeks afterwards.

Cardiff Crown Court heard that Harries was sober when he targeted the woman, who had been drinking. The judge, Recorder Greg Bull KC, said: "She became extremely tired and in my judgement she became drunk... He took advantage of her knowing she was more or less helpless."

Harries, then 23, took the woman to a bedroom, removed all of her clothes and sexually assaulted her. The woman later described a feeling of "freezing up". Harries thought she was asleep as he then attempted to rape her, but she resisted and prevented the rape, the court heard.

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He pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and attempted rape but was convicted by a jury. During the 25-year-old's sentencing hearing, prosecutor Ffion Thomas read a harrowing statement from the victim. "I felt completely helpless," the statement read. "He made me feel degraded, like I was just an object. He took away my power to speak or fight back. I blamed my own body for freezing up. Even when I made it clear I was not consenting, he continued.

"Having to undress in front of officers to get swabs for evidence, I felt even more degraded. For weeks after, I went into a depression. I struggled to leave the same spot on the sofa. I rarely left the house unless I was with someone and it was in daylight hours. I was scared if anyone saw me.

"I am now very wary of every single person I'm around and this heightens my anxiety. I've attempted to get therapy. Because of court delays, and not being able to give evidence for so long, my mental health has been highly impacted due to a lack of support. If [Harries] had admitted what he'd done to me in the first place I wouldn't have had to face the trauma of reliving that night in front of a courtroom of strangers.

"Knowing how few sex offences get to court and convicted, I now feel a sense of relief. All I wanted was for someone to listen to me and know what he did was wrong... I can now begin the healing process."

Harries, of Berw Road, Tonypandy, has one other conviction, for drink-driving last year. Beth Evans, mitigating, said that offence happened because he was struggling with the "stress" of the attempted rape and sexual assault allegations.

Ms Evans added that since the trial her client has apologised for the sexual offences. But the judge responded by pointing out Harries told lies to the jury by claiming innocence.

The defence counsel continued: "He has now been candid. He hasn't sought to minimise his actions to the probation service. It is unusual to see such frankness following a conviction after a trial. He understands that by having a trial, his actions were selfish."

She said there was a "totally different side" to Harries' character and that he still had the support of his mother, his partner, and his partner's parents. He has "always been in work", she told the court.

Recorder Bull told Harries: "Your crocodile tears to the probation officer cut little effect, I'm afraid, with me. [The victim] could have been prevented the trauma of waiting for the matter to come to court. You called on the expertise of a King's Counsel to cross-examine the complainant. That is your right and I do not hold it against you, but it shows the depths you were prepared to go to brand the victim a liar. Well, you failed."

The judge jailed Harries for five years and imposed a 10-year restraining order. He will be on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

Description

A Luton man who fled the country after raping a teenage girl has been jailed for 11 years.

Dawood Khan, 41, attacked the girl in a flat in Luton in March 2022 after spotting her alone and distressed in Milton Keynes. He offered to help her and arranged a taxi to an address in Luton, where he raped her.

But his brave victim later managed to leave the property and used a member of the public’s phone to call for help.

Khan fled the country, but three months later he was extradited back to the UK from France, after he handed himself in at a Paris police station. In May this year, he was found guilty of rape at Luton Crown Court following a two-week trial.

On Friday (August 11) Khan, of St Mildreds Avenue, Luton, was sentenced to 11 years in prison, with an extended three years on licence due to his dangerousness.

Description

Donat Cantrell was found guilty after a trial at Leeds Crown Court of a string of offences against the youngster who was 10 or 11 at the time. The 57-year-old is already serving a lengthy jail sentence following an armed stand-off with police Horsforth in March last year.

But he was handed a new nine-year extended sentence this week, which will only begin when his existing 10-years-and-eight-months sentence expires.

The court heard that Cantrell had groomed the youngster and bought her gifts, including a bikini. On one occasion, he invited the youngster into his motorhome on her own and closed the curtains before undressing himself.

He told her he needed to wash himself and asked her to help, before asking she remove her clothes. He then washed her touching her body, including her vagina. He masturbated himself and made her touch his genitals before performing a sex act on her. He later told her not to tell her mother and that he was “like a grandad”.

On another occasion, he invited the girl into a bathroom and made her masturbate him with the promise of £20. He then took her to a B&M store the next day and gave her the cash, telling her she “earned it”. He also showed her a pornographic video.

Cantrell, formerly of St Helena’s Caravan Park in Horsforth, was found guilty after his trial of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, sexual assault of a child, causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, assault of a child by penetration, sexual assault of a child and causing a child to watch a sexual act.

Mitigating, Rebecca Young said Cantrell has problems with drink and drugs which she said did not excuse his behaviour but “went some way to explain it”.

This was shot down by Judge Tom Bayliss KC, who said he could not understand the correlation. He told Cantrell: “You were in a position of trust with that child. You tried to corrupt the child with gifts and then with money. It’s difficult to think of a more cynical and calculated attempt to sexually abuse a child.”

Description

A man stole a handbag, a bank card from a house and items from a supermarket in a crime spree in Newport. Cardiff Crown Court heard how Robert Devney, who refused to appear before the court, has been required to register as a sex offender indefinitely since 2004. On October 18 last year, he attended a police station to register as having no fixed abode, meaning he should have notified officers of his whereabouts a week later, but he did not.

On December 31 last year Devney entered a house in the early hours of the morning and stole a Natwest bank card, which he was caught on CCTV using at a service station in Newport at 2.48am, spending £33.76. On February 8 of this year, he stole £76.50 worth of goods from Sainsbury's in Newport. He returned to the same store the following day stealing items worth over £62, but this time he was detained and the items were recovered.

On April 7 of this year, he again failed to comply with his registration requirements, and on April 20 he failed to surrender at Newport Magistrates' Court. On June 25, he entered a different Sainsbury's store in Newport and stole items worth £14.75. From there Devney went into an office to the rear of the store, and unsuccessfully tried a safe, but did steal a handbag belonging to a staff member.

Devney, 50, of Chepstow Road, Newport, was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court in his absence having been convicted of two counts of failure to comply with notification requirements, fraud by false representation, three counts of theft from a shop, failure to appear before Newport Magistrates' Court, and a non-dwelling burglary.

No mitigation was offered on behalf of Devney as his barrister was not given any instructions. Her honour judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke sentenced Devney to three years and four months in prison.

Description

This Derby voyeur secretly filmed a female carrying out sex acts so he could watch them for his own gratification. Derby Crown Court heard how Lucas Smith’s victim had no idea he had caught her on camera and viewed what she was doing.

But his offending came to light and he was charged with multiple counts of voyeurism. Now, the want-to-be university student is on the sex offender register for the next five years.

Handing him a nine-month community order, Judge Shaun Smith KC said: “You summed this offending up best yourself when you said what you did was stupid. It was really, really, stupid.

“You recorded it and she did not know but importantly you weren’t going to do anything with it such as share it or put it on the internet. You did it for your own gratification and you can’t do things like that.

"It was stupid, it was also criminal and I am going to sentence you for being stupid but at least you spared her from having to come to court and give evidence.”

Dawn Smith said the offending took place when Smith, formerly of Lismore Court, Sinfin, and who gave the court a new address of William Street, in the city centre, was a teenager.

He pleaded guilty to three counts of voyeurism. Anna Soubry, mitigating, said her client lives with his father and grandparents and hopes to go to university this autumn.

Judge Smith told him: “When you go to university you will have to go to the local police station there and tell them where you will be living and you will need to tell the probation service where you are living.” The victim’s identity is protected by law.

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Fernando Camutari, 41, lured his 21-year-old victim back to his home in Sheffield after a night out in the early hours of June 8, 2019.

She was able to call 999 on the rapist’s phone and she could be heard on the call pleading with Camutari to stop.

Police raced to the home on Mordaunt Road and arrested him as he and the victim were leaving the property.

Camutari denied the allegations throughout. At first he insisted the woman hadn’t been inside the house, despite CCTV showing them going in together.

He then denied any sexual activity had taken place – but forensic evidence proved otherwise.

Camutari was charged in 2020 with one count of rape and two of sexual assault.

Description

A Welshman filmed himself performing a sex act on a bus in sight of a young girl sitting nearby. The offending only came to light after former steelworker Christopher Howells lost his phone outside a rugby club and it was found by a passer-by.

When the Good Samaritan looked at the phone to see if he could find the owner's details he saw photographs which troubled him, and he immediately took the device to the police. Sending the 58-year-old to prison a judge told the defendant it was clear he had gained sexual gratification from his behaviour on the bus.

The judge said he had no doubt relived the experience while watching the footage over again. He also noted that Howells had been assessed as posing a high risk of harm to children.

Craig Jones, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that on June 17 this year a man walking near Pyle rugby club noticed a mobile phone on the ground and stopped to pick it up. He said the man took the device home with the intention of seeing if he could identify its owner and return it.

But when he looked at the phone he saw pictures of a young girl on a bus - photographs which were taken from behind and which appeared to have been taken without the child's knowledge. The man immediately took the phone to Bridgend police station, and there officers carried out a full examination of the device.

On the phone police found a three-minute video clip showing a man performing the sex act on himself on a bus while sat across from a young girl. The court heard the child, who could see what was happening, has never been identified.

The prosecutor said police also found a photograph of the defendant's driving licence on the phone, and that led them to Howells' front door. The defendant was arrested and subsequently answered "no comment" to all questions asked in interview.

Christopher Howells, of Ffordd y Goedwig, Pyle, Bridgend , had previously pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He had also originally been charged with outraging public decency - an offence contrary to common law - but the prosecution did not pursue that charge.

The defendant has previous convictions for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and for failing to provide a specimen for analysis.. John Allchurch, for Howells, said the references before the court painted a picture of a decent and hard-working man.

He said his client had cared for his mother for many years and under the burden of those responsibilities had turned to drink. The advocate said at the time of the offending Howells had lost his job at the steelworks and was drinking a bottle of vodka a day.

Judge Paul Thomas KC said it was clear that Howells had derived sexual enjoyment from the what was happening on the bus. He said that enjoyment was no doubt repeated when the defendant subsequently watched back the footage he had shot.

The judge noted that the author of the pre-sentence report on the defendant had concluded that due to factors including the nature of the offending, Howells' attitude, and his mistrust of professionals, he posed a high risk of harm to children. Judge Thomas jailed Howells for 15 months.

The defendant will serve up to half that sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. Howells will be a registered sex offender for the next ten years, and was made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for the same period of time.

Description

Daniel Hudson aged 35, was sentenced on Thursday at Leeds Crown Court for the offences, which occurred at an address in Leeds against a 14-year-old girl.

Hudson, from the Lupset area, was found guilty of five sexual offences against the victim.

The trial heard how Hudson had befriended the victim, buying gifts and food for her to make her think she was in a romantic relationship with him. It also heard how the sexual abuse had started once he had secured her trust. 

Detectives in Wakefield opened an investigation in June 2020 after reports were received of Hudson’s offending. 

Detective Constable Ashleigh Gath-Clark, said:

“This has been a complex investigation spanning over three years.

“Daniel Hudson was responsible for a catalogue of appalling sexual abuse against this vulnerable child.

“These were awful offences that he committed, and I would like to commend the victim for their courage and bravery in coming forward and reporting the offences to the police at a young age. 

“This was a challenging investigation and I welcome the sentence that has been passed. I hope that it provides reassurance to the victim and their family, as well as the wider community.”

Description

A former police officer has been jailed for more than seven years for sexual offences against a vulnerable 13-year-old girl he met online.

Haider Siddique, 22, was arrested after a bus driver spotted him acting inappropriately in March last year.

He had joined West Midlands Police in 2021 as a student officer and the force called his offences "sickening".

The NSPCC said his "targeted grooming and sexual abuse of a vulnerable girl was a terrible breach of trust".

It added: "Having undertaken training to become a police officer, Siddique should have known the devastating impact child sexual abuse can have on the victims."

It also commended the bus driver for speaking up.

At Birmingham Crown Court in January, Siddique pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual activity with a child, and resigned while in custody.

The force said an expedited misconduct hearing was held in private after his guilty plea and he would have been dismissed if he had not resigned.

It also said he had never been deployed in an operational role.

Deputy Chief Constable Scott Green said: "This was a sickening criminal act by a former student officer and I know his fellow officers will be repulsed by his behaviour."

As well as his prison sentence, Siddique will be on the Sex Offender Register for life.

He is also subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order banning him from internet contact with anyone under 16 and barring any unsupervised contact with anyone under 16, unless their parents are aware of the offences.