Latest Offenders

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A man has been jailed after he raped a woman while on a first date.

Lee Frost will spend nearly a decade locked up after he forced himself on a woman who had agreed to go on a date with him.

Frost, 38, of Lobley Hill, Gateshead, left the woman with extensive bruising and so traumatised after the ordeal she moved house and now sleeps with a lock on her bedroom door.

Frost was arrested on suspicion of rape in Spring 2021, but denied his guilt, claiming the pair had consensual sex.

He was charged with two counts of rape but continued to deny any wrongdoing when he appeared at Newcastle Crown Court in January this year to stand trial.

A jury, however, saw through his lies, and he was found guilty of both counts.

On Monday (February 27), he was jailed for nine years, with an extended licence period of five years.

He was also made to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life.

A statement was also read out on behalf of the victim which condemned her attacker, saying he had devastated her life and left her feeling afraid in any place she tried to call home.

Northumbria Police praised the victim for finding the strength to speak to officers and for continuing to assist with the investigation, trial, and all court proceedings.

A spokesperson said: "As a force, we want to praise the victim for finding the strength to speak to officers and for continuing to assist with the investigation, trial and all court proceedings.

"Her bravery has seen her attacker jailed and we also hope it serves as a stark warning to those with an unlawfully blurred view on consent that no always means no, and no can be conveyed by more than just speech.

"If a person tells you no, attempts to push you away, freezes or very clearly becomes distressed, it is clear that they have not given you consent to touch them.

Description

A registered sex offender will now spend 40 months behind bars after being caught breaching his sexual harm prevention order and possessing indecent images of children.

Graham Phillips, 63, of Bridge Close in Staines-upon-Thames, was caught in the act by officers in our High Harm Perpetrator Unit who were monitoring him, after he was seen speaking to three children on the banks of the River Thames near Staines Town Centre on 26 August 2022.

After being arrested, officers were able to determine that he had been regularly trying to communicate with three 12-year-old boys whilst they were on summer holidays.

Phillips's mobile devices were also searched, and separate indecent images of children were discovered. He was remanded in prison and pleaded guilty to breaching his sexual harm prevention order and possessing indecent images of children. At his sentencing on Friday 17 February at Guildford Crown Court, the judge sentenced him to 40 months behind bars.

Detective Inspector Ellen McLachlan who leads the High Harm Perpetrator Unit at Staines said; "The quick and successful apprehension of Mr Phillips before his offending could escalate, is a great example of the dedication and proactive policing work done by the High Harm Perpetrator Unit. We take breaches of prevention orders extremely seriously and will act quickly and decisively to keep the residents of Surrey as safe as possible."

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A 45 year old former nursery worker who denied having any memory of being placed on the sex offenders register 20 years ago has been convicted of molesting a four year old Gloucester girl while baby-sitting her.

Gloucester Crown Court heard last week that the child's mother was shocked when her daughter told her how Jamie White had abused her - and then horrified to learn that he had been cautioned by police in the past for similar offending.

The Gloucester woman had trusted White, whom she knew, and was unaware he had been on the Sex Offender Register for five years for indecent assault of a nine year old girl in 2003.

White had also been accused of a similar offence in 1995 when he was working for a childrens nursery, the court was told.

White, now of Atlas Close, Speedwell, Bristol, denied sexual assault of the four year old girl when he was baby-sitting her and a sibling on Feb 20th 2020 in Gloucester.

But he was convicted last Thursday (Feb 23) and bailed to await sentence in April.

The jury of eleven - nine men and two women - saw the four year old girl describe in a video-recorded interview how White had licked her on the genitals while baby-sitting.

The jury heard that White and his partner had babysat the children several times.

Prosecutor Christopher Smyth said: “White arrived at the woman’s house by himself at 1.30pm on Feb 20th 2020 and she told him that she would be back at around 7pm. This was the first time he had babysat the children on his own.

“When the mother arrived home everything seemed normal and the children were playing happily together. White left the house at 8.25pm that evening and the mother took the children upstairs to bed.

“The mother asked her daughter if she had a good day and she replied 'Yes…and no.' Her mother queried this and the young girl said that Jamie had hit her in the face with a cloth.

“She quizzed her daughter, asking if this was while they were playing? She replied 'maybe'. The little girl then said ‘Jamie licked my vulva,’ a word she had been taught about the anatomy of her body.

“The mother was horrified by this and asked if she was telling the truth and she added that people could get into trouble for saying things like that. The girl said it was true.

"The mother then texted White saying that he’d left his scarf behind and added that her daughter had been telling her 'some pretty serious stuff.'

“He replied ‘What stuff?'in a bid to get more information. The mother did not respond.

The following morning White contacted the woman and said ‘I know I have done nothing.’ He added ‘If I am being accused of something, I have the right to know.’

The woman told White that he and his partner would not be babysitting the children again as their trust was gone

I’m not accusing you of anything, yet, but I want the full story,” she said.

When White was giving evidence, the judge, Recorder Anthony Hawks, asked him “If you hadn’t said anything inappropriate or done anything untoward, what do you think you were being accused of?”

White replied: “I don’t know, that’s why I kept asking. I didn’t think it was anything sexual.”

The jury heard that White told the mother he had been checked by the Disclosure and Barring Service and that he was clear.

The jury were told that because White had previously been placed on the sex offenders register for five years in 2003 that would have been flagged up but the mother would not have known this.

The mother contacted social services about her daughter's allegations and while she was on hold to them on the phone the four-year-old told her ‘Jamie told me not to tell anyone, but I'm telling you because I am a good girl’.

“Having reported the incident to the safeguarding team, the police become involved and the young girl was interviewed by trained offers the following day," said Mr Smyth.

While White was being cross examined by Mr Smyth during his evidence he denied that he had ever appeared at the court before.

He was repeatedly asked by the prosecutor if he did not remember accepting a police caution in January 2003 after admitting a charge of indecently assaulting a nine-year-old girl.

The case had not gone to trial because the girl's father had been reluctant to put her through the ordeal of giving evidence, the prosecutor said.

Mr Smyth also pointed out to Smyth that on the same day he had accepted the caution he had been jailed for 18 months for attempting to obtain pecuniary advantage by deception by trying to get a job at a local children’s nursery.

“This would have been a significant day in your life,” Mr Smyth said.

The jury also heard about the suspicions that social services had while White was working for another nursery in Gloucester in 1995 and had allegedly molested a four-year-old girl.

However, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to take the case to court because the girl was so young and it would be an ordeal for her to give evidence in court.

White told the police in his interview that he had played with the children and said that when she had run upstairs to the bedroom he had tickled the four-year-old and that he hadn’t licked her at all.

He was asked, ‘Are you attracted to children?’ White replied, ‘No’. ‘

Asked if fantasised over young girls he denied that he did and added ‘I’ve always got on with children. I’m not sexually interested in young girls, I am not interested in children in anyway.’

“What’s your sexual orientation?" he was asked. " A beautiful 25-year-old blonde haired girl,” he replied.

White told the jury he was annoyed when the Gloucester mother told him she did not want him to baby sit for her daughter any more and added: “I didn’t know what I was being accused of. I thought that was the end of it.

“The first thing I knew about the sexual allegations is when the police knocked my door.

“I didn’t say anything to the girl that she should not tell anybody about what happened because nothing happened. I didn’t lick her when she was naked or over or under her clothing, not even inadvertently.”

Pina Silvio, defending White, asked him about receiving a caution in 2003 for a sexual allegation on a nine-year-old girl.

“I was working at a snooker club in Gloucester and got to know a particular family with young children very well. I ending looking after them on several occasions. It was a baby-sitting situation at their home when the allegations happened. I denied the sexual allegations but I accepted the caution. I don’t even remember being in this court before,” he said.

The judge pointed out to White that he couldn’t have been given a caution, unless he had admitted the offence. White said he had done nothing wrong and claimed that he had been acquitted.

White continued to deny to the lawyers that he had been in Gloucester Crown Court before.

Ms Silvio told White: “This is a matter of record. You had to sign the sex offenders’ register for five years."

The jury took just one hour and 20 minutes to reach their guilty verdict. White will be sentenced on April 5 and he was released on unconditional bail.

Following his conviction White was placed on the sex offenders register and the length of his registration will be clarified when he is sentenced.

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Following a Thames Valley Police investigation, a man has been sentenced for rape and sexual assault in Slough.

Mohammad Ilyas, aged 24, of Chalvey Park, Slough was sentenced yesterday (27/2) to six years’ imprisonment.

At a previous hearing on 20 December last year, he pleaded guilty to two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault by penetration.

Ilyas will also be placed on the sex offenders register for life.

In March 2021, Ilyas raped and sexually assaulted the victim, a woman in her twenties, in Slough.

Ilyas was arrested on 4 April 2021 and charged on 27 July 2022.

Investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Thomas Harman, based at Slough police station, said: “Ilyas’s actions had a severe impact on the life of the young woman he attacked.

“Thanks to her incredible courage, strength and support, we were able to prove what happened and bring Ilyas to justice.

“I hope this case shows that we take all reports seriously and will work tirelessly to bring offenders before the courts.”

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A man and woman from Nottingham have been jailed for a total of 10 years for sexually abusing a child and sharing the footage online.

Christopher Binch, 36, was arrested by the National Crime Agency on 12th March 2022, after it was identified he had been discussing his sexual interest in children and uploading indecent material to an online child abuse group.

Binch shared a video and a number of images which he had taken himself of a young child being sexually abused.

When arresting him, officers seized Binch’s mobile phone and a quantity of cocaine which he confirmed was for his personal use.

Through further examination of the video, NCA investigators identified that although it was Binch filming, it was a female with a visible tattoo carrying out the abuse.  

The tattoo matched that of Binch’s partner, Lindsay Mobey, aged 34, and she was arrested three days later.

Binch’s phone was analysed and officers recovered 347 indecent images of children (IIOC) in categories A-C, as well as a number of extreme and prohibited images. The material included three sexual abuse videos which Binch had filmed himself.

Binch was remanded in custody and in November last year, he pleaded guilty to ten charges, including the sexual assault of a child under 13, the taking, making, possession and distribution of IIOC, possession of extreme pornography and one count of possession of cocaine.

In the same month, Lyndsay Mobey pleaded guilty to the sexual assault of a child under 13.

Today at Leicester Crown Court, Binch was sentenced to eight years and one month in prison, placed on the sex offenders register for life and handed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

Mobey was jailed for two years and one month and will be on the sex offenders register for five years.

The child was safeguarded early on in the investigation.

Danny Waywell from the National Crime Agency said: 

“Binch and Mobey worked together to sexually abuse a young child, which he filmed and shared with other paedophiles online.

“Their actions were calculated and abhorrent; exploiting this child to satisfy their own sexual gratifications and gain some horrific form of kudos among the like-minded online.

“Safeguarding children from sexual abuse is a priority for the NCA. We work tirelessly to identify offenders and ensure they are brought to justice so they no longer pose a threat.”

Description

Paedophile hunters posed as delivery drivers in order to get a man who was communicating indecently with children to come to his front door.

David Penney, 56, thought he was chatting to girls as young as 13 but was actually speaking to adult volunteers working with online groups who expose offenders.

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A "deviant" paedophile who sent sexual chats to an underage girl and asked her to transfer him money has been caged.

Loner Robert William Middlemas was already a registered sex offender when he began speaking to a 14-year-old girl on Snapchat. Middlesmas sent the vulnerable child explicit pictures of himself and requested she do the same during offending which lasted for a year between February 2020 and February 2021.

The 32-year-old would make frequent video calls to the girl whilst naked and urged her to transfer him money, which she did after borrowing money from friends and family. Middlemas' offending left the autistic teen feeling "scared" and "emotionally punished" before he was finally arrested.

On Friday, Middlemas, of Kings Field, Seahouses, Northumberland, appeared at Newcastle Crown Court via link from HMP Durham to be sentenced for engaging in sexual communications with a child, breaching a sexual risk order and possession of indecent images.

The court was told that Middlemas had been a registered sex offender since 2016 and was labelled "high risk" by Northumbria Police. But despite being the subject of a sexual risk order, he began speaking to an underage girl from the Devon area on Snapchat in February 2020. As soon as he struck up a conversation with the girl, he sent her an explicit picture of himself as well as an image involving a dog.

Andrew Finlay, prosecuting, said: "He continued to chat with her and asked if he could become her boyfriend. She told him she was 14 years old and the defendant said he was 28 years old. They exchanged numbers and the victim sent him 30 to 40 images of herself and videos on Snapchat and WhatsApp. They spoke for about a year and made video calls where the defendant would be naked."

The court heard that Middlemas had discussed meeting up with the girl for sex in a Cornwall hotel, and arrangements were made. The girl then showed up to the hotel but Middlemas didn't. Mr Finlay said Middlemas sent her a message saying he had attended the hotel but "couldn't get in touch" with her. It was soon after that he began asking for money.

Mr Finlay continued: "The victim said she sent the defendant money on seven occasions, about £1,000, to re-establish contact since it had slowed down. Her friends helped her obtain money."

His offending finally came to light in February 2021 when Devon and Cornwall Police spoke to the girl in relation to another matter and her mobile phone was analysed. The messages from Middlemas were discovered and inquiries were then made to Northumbria Police who arrested Middlemas in March 2021.

Following his arrest, his mobile phones and a tablet were seized, with one category A and one category B indecent images being found. A bank statement was also found that showed money from the girl had gone into his bank account. All of his offending put him in breach of his sexual risk order.

In a victim statement, the girl said throughout the ordeal she felt "scared because of the things he said and made me do". She said: "He made me do things I didn't want to do but felt too scared to say no. He would give me demands of things that I had to do and would tell me how to dress. I felt like he was punishing me emotionally." The girl added she "isolated" herself in her bedroom and missed a year of school and her GCSEs due to Middlemas.

The court was told Middlemas had six previous convictions and had been the subject of a suspended sentence, which finished just 18 days before he began speaking to the girl.

Nick Lane, defending, said Middlemas was "somewhat of a loner-type figure" who had been involved in failed relationships and unemployment. He said: "He has a history of development issues going back to childhood. He has autistic spectrum disorder and has suffered from severe depression and self-harm." Mr Lane added that Middlemas had "family support" and that he "very much regrets his actions and will accept the sentence of the court".

Sentencing Middlemas, Recorder Benjamin Nolan KC said the victim was a "very vulnerable child" who was sending him money at his request. He said: "This was a serious and persistent breach. You are a paedophile with a deviant sexual interest in children."

Middlemas was given an 11-year extended prison sentence, six years of which will be custodial. A lifelong sexual harm prevention order was also imposed and he will be on the sex offenders' register for life.

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A PERVERT jailed for shoving a courgette down the front of his leggings before simulating a sex act in front of shoppers and children is back behind bars.

“Persistent sex offender” Geoffrey Chambers, 68, from Newport has been locked up for breaching an order regulating his use of the internet.

That sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) was imposed in February 2021 after he’d “paraded himself” in Hereford while making eye contact with women.

Tabitha Walker, prosecuting, said Chambers was arrested in Cwmbran town centre last August after police received reports he was “following young women around and filming them”.

There was no evidence of him doing this but officers searched him and found two mobile phones that had wiping apps which were prohibited by the terms of his SHPO.

The defendant, formerly of Cwmbran, now Clarence Place, Newport, admitted the breach.

Cardiff Crown Court heard Chambers was jailed for 22 months in 2021 after being caught exposing himself on a crowded beach at Barry Island when it was packed with thousands of sunseekers.

He was spotted stroking himself near a group of teenage girls.

A judge told him on that occasion he was “addicted” to flashing.

Chambers has 33 previous convictions for sex offences – the majority for exposure – dating back to the early 1980s.

Ruth Smith, representing him, said: “He’s a defendant who has struggled with a compulsion to expose himself in the past.

“He’s someone who has indicated a willingness to engage in programmes and is making the most of the use of his time in custody.”

Judge Paul Hobson told Chambers: “You are a committed and persistent sex offender.

“You were warned about this software and it seems to me the breach was deliberate.”

Chambers was jailed for 12 months and told he would serve half of that time in custody before being released on licence.

He was ordered to pay a victim surcharge following his release from prison.

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THE MoD has been blasted after a predatory instructor was jailed for a campaign of sexual assault and harassment.

Army Corporal Simon Bartram, 32, targeted teenage girl recruits, some as young as 16.

He sexually assaulted one on a training exercise and routinely walked in on them when they emerged naked from the showers.

The married father of one told a teen: Id have a threesome with you and your mother, praised anothers nice bum and t*ts and pestered one to show him a tattoo on her bottom.

He was detained for 20 months but Emma Norton, of the Centre for Military Justice, urged the Ministry of Defence to do more to protect recruits.

She said: Time after time, we see it taking the smallest steps it thinks it can get away with at the expense of fundamental reforms.

Bartram, of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, was accused of targeting six girls over nine months between 2020 and 2021 at a military college in the north of England.

All were left profoundly distressed, the military court at Catterick, North Yorks, heard.

One suffered from PTSD and another left the Army.

Bartram, of Hull, denied 22 charges, but was found guilty of nine and sent to the Military Corrective Training Centre in Colchester.

He was also stripped of his rank and dismissed from the Army.

An Army spokesman said: The Army has zero tolerance when it comes to sexual harassment and personnel convicted of a sexual offence will be dismissed.

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A young woman was forced to give up her job after being followed and attacked on her way to work in Bradford last year.

The woman, who must not be identified for legal reasons, had been walking along Manchester Road at about 6am when she became aware of 27-year-old Patrik Lukacs crossing the road and walking right up behind her.

Bradford Crown Court heard on Friday that Lukacs, a father with a long-term partner, told the woman she was “looking good” and asked for her number. Prosecutor Philip Standfast said the woman refused to give him her number, but tried to get rid of him by saying he could add her in Facebook.

The court heard that Lukacs followed the woman all the way to the Ripley Street area where he then began groping her bottom and between her legs. Mr Standfast said: “He went to hug her from behind and tried to pick her up."

The woman was telling him “no”, but Lukacs then tried again to pick her up and take her into a snicket near some flats.

“He tried to grab her hand, but she told him she was not going with him because she had to get to work,” said Mr Standfast.

Lukacs, of Denbury Mount, Holme Wood, Bradford, continued to grope the woman and followed her all the way to her workplace. The court heard she was in tears when she arrived in work and a friend alerted the police after she told him what had happened. The complainant’s jeans were tested and DNA linked to Lukacs was found on them.

Lukacs was arrested a week later and denied sexually assaulting the woman. He suggested that she “quite liked him” and nothing happened that she did not want. But at a court hearing in January Lukacs admitted the two charges of sexual assault and on Friday he was jailed for 18 months.

Mr Standfast said as a result of the attack the complainant had given up her job because she felt unsafe going to work along the same route.

Barrister John Batchelor, for Lukacs, said his partner had been away and his client had been out drinking with friends. He suggested that Lukacs may have been more drunk than he recalled.

Recorder James Baird said the woman had made it clear to Lukacs that she did not want his attention and he had persisted in following her. He said the complainant had been left feeling anxious all the time and found it difficult to sleep.

Lukacs will now have to register as a sex offender with the police for the next 10 years and he is also subject to an indefinite restraining order which bans him from contact the complainant.

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A serial sex attacker who prowled tube stations before assaulting three women in two weeks is jailed for almost five years.

Mohammad Yahia Alloush, 26, attacked three commuters over the course of two weeks in 2021 and has now been sentenced to four years and 11 months in prison.

Alloush has also been banned from being within 50 metres of any tube, train or bus stop in London between 7pm and 7am for the next seven years after he was given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

A detective on the case called Alloush a 'cowardly, predatory offender' at his sentencing at Harrow Crown Court.

His first attack on September 5 saw him loiter around Dollis Hill Underground Station in north west London for around 20 minutes.

CCTV caught him following a woman out of the station and down a number of streets before violently attacking and sexually assaulting her.

Just days later on September 11, the 26-year-old confronted a second woman leaving the same station.

He demanded money then sexually assaulted her before running away.

On September 16, Alloush was seen leaving Neasden Underground Station and then approached his third victim in a nearby alleyway.

He sexually assaulted her before stealing her headphones and fleeing the scene.

CCTV at Dollis Hill Station the night of his first attack was used to identify Alloush - because he tapped his Oyster card when he got back to the station following the attack.

The Oyster card he used was registered to his home address and police arrested him on his way to work.

During these searches offices found a distinctive black and white striped t-shirt worn in the first attack which has been seen on CCTV.

The headphones taken in the third attack were also found in his bedroom.

A DNA swab taken from the first victim was subsequently linked to Alloush.

Extensive work was also carried out on his mobile phone which put him near the locations of the attacks at the times they occurred.

Victims read impact statements out to the court which told how they had been left fearful of leaving their homes after dark.

One victim said they had taken to carrying a colour spray with which to spray any further attacker and a whistle to attract attention.

Detective Constable Matthew Chapman said: 'Mohammed Alloush is a cowardly, predatory offender, who appeared unafraid of attacking women who he had picked out near underground stations.

'His offending was apparently escalating when he was caught, and areas of North West London are all the safer for him being in prison.

'Alloush always denied involvement and I would like to pay tribute to the bravery of the victims who were ready to give evidence against him right up until the first day of trial when he changed his plea to guilty.'

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A convicted paedophile who was found with more than 250 indecent images of children, with a judge describing them as some of “the most disgusting images” he’s ever had the misfortune of viewing, has been jailed.

Phillip Belcher pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children, but only after initially taking the case to court when he was found with the photographs on his devices back in 2019, rendering him in breach of a suspended sentence and sexual harm prevention order.

He was jailed for the breaches but fell to be sentenced for the images after he tried to blame everyone else but himself for his actions.

Prosecuting at Preston Crown Court, Adam Lodge said Belcher, 33, had been convicted in Reading in July 2019 of making indecent images of children and had been made subject to a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and suspended sentence.

However, in August 2019, during a routine check at his home in Church Meadows, Colne, police found Belcher to have devices which he had not informed the police about, including a Sony tablet and phone, which placed him in breach of his order, as well as an SD memory card.

On it, police found disturbing images of children only a few months old, as well as one of necrophilia.

Belcher tried to blame his partner and another member of his family for the images, saying they might have been the ones who viewed them.

His suspended sentence was activated, and he was jailed for 15 months.

Following his release in June 2020, Belcher was visited at home once again and a mobile phone was found which had been used to search for child sexual abuse on Google.

Judge Guy Mathieson said: “It was entirely your choice to span out these proceedings from 2021 until last year until you admitted your guilt before trial.

“At one stage you even blamed your partner.

“At 33, you might want to start to take some responsibility for your actions.

“The type of images you take some sexual gratification from are abhorrent. You are taking sexual delight in the abuse and torture of tiny children, babies in some cases.

“When it comes to your pre-sentence report you are blaming everyone else. You even say you may have come across the images by accident.

“You are a wholly unrepentant paedophile and you are not someone who wants to change or embrace change. You are quite happy with who you are.

“The images you have downloaded contain some of the most disgusting images I have ever had the misfortune to come across.”

Belcher, who has 15 convictions for 19 offences was jailed for two years, and told to sign the sex offender’s register for 10 years.

No variation was made to his sexual harm prevention order which will be in place for another six years.

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A 31-year-old man who drank himself into a stupor before knocking on a pensioners door and spontaneously sexually assaulting her is to have his jail sentence reviewed, after it was referred to the Attorney General under the unduly lenient sentence scheme.

Asadul Karim was jailed for nine months at Burnley Crown Court after being convicted at trial of sexual assault.

The court was told how on May 28, 2021, Karim, of Beveridge Mews in the Stepney Green area of London, was for some reason in Burnley and had found himself in an intoxicated state.

At around 9.45pm, he had knocked on the door of a 79-year-old womans house before entering and sexually assaulting her.

Karim was handed a nine month jail sentence and told to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years.

However, after a member of public asked for it to be reviewed under the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme, his sentence is now under consideration by the office of Attorney General Victoria Prentis.

If the Attorney General deems his sentence to be 'unduly lenient', the case will be sent to the Court of Appeal, where his jail time could be extended.

If it is sent to the Court of Appeal under the scheme, the most senior judges in the land will then make a decision.

Karims sentence will either be increased, stay the same, or judges may refuse to hear the case.

Even if a case is passed on to the Court of Appeal it may not change the sentence.

A decision will be made in due course.

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A 91-YEAR-OLD man has been sentenced to ten years in jail for his sexual offences against a young girl almost two decades ago.

Eric Grant, 91 of Hall Barn Road, Isleham, appeared at Basildon Crown Court on Thursday, February 23, where he was jailed for his offences which took place between 2004 and 2005.

The victim was just 11 years-old at the time she was abused. The abuse took place in Essex and in Cambridgeshire.

The victim reported the abuse to Essex Police in March 2021.

Prior to speaking to police, she called Grant to confront him about what he did.

She recorded this call, where Grant implied that the acts were consensual. The victim then bravely used this as evidence when reporting to the police.

The investigation was picked up by Essex Police’s Quest Team, who dedicate themselves to investigating all non-recent child sexual abuse.

Grant was interviewed in July 2021 and refused to tell officers anything. Despite this, he was charged a few months later.

Following a trial at Basildon Crown Court, which began on December 12, 2022, Grant was found guilty and placed on the Sex Offenders Register whilst being remanded into custody ahead of his sentencing. He appeared at Basildon Crown Court again on Thursday where he was sentenced to ten years in prison.

He was also given a restraining order, preventing him from making any contact with the victim.

At the sentencing, the victim bravely spoke out in court, describing how Grant’s crimes have had a lasting effect on her including how it’s made her extremely protective of her own child.

His Honour Judge Hurst described Grant’s “cowardly defence” and criticised him for putting the victim through the difficult court process despite his recorded admissions.

Investigating Officer, Detective Sergeant Ed Massey said: “I want to commend the bravery of the victim in this case, who I know feels like a massive weight has now been lifted from her.

“I feel the sentence – and the fact that Grant is likely to spend the rest of his life in prison – reflects the devastating effects of his sexual abuse of a child, and the fact that he made the victim go through the difficult process of a crown court trial.

“I would also like to extend my thanks to the Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA) from CARA (Centre for Action on Rape and Abuse) who supported the victim throughout the whole process, including several days of jury deliberations, and being by her side today as she read her Victim Personal Statement.”

Detective Sergeant Shirley Cole, from the Quest team, added: “The Quest team is made up of dedicated, specialist officers who work day-in, day-out to get justice for victims.  Our work shows that just because sexual abuse took place decades ago, it doesn’t mean that you have any less of a right to have someone who abused you held to account.  I would urge anyone who was abused as a child to come forward and report to us what happened to them.”

Support is there for anyone affected by rape and sexual abuse, and no victim or survivor is alone. Synergy Essex provides specialist support for victims and survivors of rape and sexual abuse of all ages and all genders across Essex, Thurrock and Southend.

Synergy Essex is a partnership of rape and sexual abuse centres in Essex: CARA (Centre for Action on Rape and Abuse), SERICC Rape and Sexual Abuse Specialist Service and Southend-on-Sea Rape Crisis (SOS Rape Crisis). Synergy Essex is independent from the police and provides support for victims and survivors throughout their journey.

Victims and survivors can self-refer, or be referred by a parent, partner, friend or professional and can access specialist emotional support, counselling and advocacy.  For victims and survivors who report to the police, Synergy Essex provides an Independent Sexual Violence Adviser (ISVA) service, providing support throughout the criminal justice process.

For more information visit the Synergy Essex website.

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A man from east London has been jailed for online blackmail, drug supply offences and distribution of indecent images of a child.

George Austin-Bohan, 28, threatened to post pictures of a child online which he had obtained without their knowledge.

In 2018 and 2020 he demanded money from two women online, threatening to publish indecent images of a child on Instagram, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.

He was also convicted of possessing with intent to supply class A drugs cocaine and MDMA.

In September 2022 a Misuse of Drugs Act search warrant was executed at a residential address in Tower Hamlets. Drugs with an estimated street value of £10,000 - £15,000 were seized along with over £7,000 in cash.

Austin-Bohan, from Tower Hamlets, was arrested at the scene.

He was sentenced to five years and three months imprisonment for three counts of blackmail Malicious communications Distribution of indecent images of children distribution and four drug supply counts.

He was also hit with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will be required to sign the Sex Offender’s Register for 10 years.

His electronic devices were seized and upon forensic examination were found to contain digital evidence of the offences.

PC Lindsey England, investigating officer from the Met’s Central East Command said: “The offences committed in this case are vile and have been truly distressing for the victims. Austin-Bohan used multiple social media accounts in an attempt to conceal his identity and continued to deny his involvement throughout the investigation.

“There has been a considerable amount of investigative effort including vast digital forensic work involved in this case but without the victims’ bravery in coming forward Austin-Bohan could not have been brought to justice.

“I hope that the sentence handed down provides them with a sense of justice and I hope they can put these incidents behind them. Online sexual offences, both against children and adults are damaging in the extreme and I would urge people to report such crimes to police so that they can be investigated. Victims will be listened to and should know that there are many avenues of support available.”