Latest Offenders

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A pervert who sent explicit images of himself to a child has been locked up.

Christopher Brimstead, 31, from East Malling took the images and then sent them to the youngster, between November 2018 and January 2019

Brimstead, previously from Jasmine Close, used a computer to take the photos and sent explicit messages to her, asking her to engage in sexual activity.

The child reported the offences in April 2019 and officers arrested Brimstead.

He was later charged with engaging in sexual communication with a child, which he admitted at Maidstone Crown Court last week where he was jailed for 12 months.

Upon Brimstead’s release from prison he will be the subject of a restraining order and a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.

The order places restrictions on his access to the internet and prohibits contact with girls under the age of 16.

He will also be placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

DC Victoria Baker said: "Brimstead abused trust shown to him in the worst possible way, trying to exploit a child for his own gratification.

I’m pleased he has been sentenced and I hope that this sentencing goes some way to helping the victim to find some closure and move forward with her life.

"Kent Police will always take sexual offences seriously and will investigate thoroughly to ensure that any people who commit criminal offences pay for their actions and that victims get the justice that they deserve."

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A RAPIST who grabbed a woman by her throat and sexually assaulted her has been jailed. Liam James Puncher, aged 23 and of Dorchester, was jailed for six-and-a-half years in prison after being found guilty of the offence at a previous trial at Bournemouth Crown Court. On the night of Friday, February 22, 2019, the defendant and the victim, a woman who was known to him, were at her home on Portland and watching a film together. Puncher began touching her in a sexual manner and the victim clearly told him to stop. At around 1.50am on Saturday, February 23 2019 the defendant made further advances and proceeded to grab her by the throat as he raped her. Following the incident, Puncher left the property and then texted his victim to apologise, before asking her not to tell anyone. Puncher reported himself to the police in the early hours of Sunday, February 24, 2019 stating he wanted to hand himself in in relation to an incident that had happened on Portland. The victim made a report later that morning and Puncher was arrested shortly afterwards. In police interview, Puncher claimed they had engaged in consensual sexual activity and denied he had raped his victim. Detective Sergeant Jo Blackmore, of Weymouth CID, said: The jury during Punchers trial clearly rejected his false claims that this was a consensual act and I want to praise the victim for having the courage to come forward and support our investigation. She showed immense bravery throughout the court process and helped secure a conviction and jail term for the man who raped her. I hope her actions will give other victims the strength to come forward in the knowledge that they will be supported and we will do all we can to bring sexual attackers to justice. If you have been a victim of rape or sexual assault, and you want to report directly to the police, please call 101 and ask to be put in contact with a specially-trained police officer.

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"This was a particularly sinister case and the strong sentence reflects the severity of his offending," said Police Constable Kevin Sibley A 'depraved' Doncaster man performed sex acts in front of an undercover cop he believed was a 12-year-old girl. Mark Harrigan, 35, of Halifax Crescent, Doncaster pleaded guilty to attempting to incite a girl aged under 13 to engage in sexual activity, and attempting to engage in sexual activity in the presence of a child. He was jailed for four years on Friday, November 19. Sheffield Crown Court heard how he communicated online with someone he thought was a 12-year-old girl and performed sexual acts in front of her. Unbeknown to the offender, he was communicating with a police officer, as part of an investigation by South Yorkshire Police and the South Wales Regional Organised Crime Unit. South Yorkshire Police have confirmed there was never a real-life victim. Police Constable Kevin Sibley from the Sheffield Reactive CID team, said: This was a particularly sinister case and the strong sentence reflects the severity of his offending. "This was a successful operation between South Yorkshire Police and the South Wales Organised Crime Unit that ensured Harrigan was brought to justice. It also shows the lengths of depravity that he would go to. Detective Constable Russell Jones, from the South Wales Regional Organised Crime Unit, said: This forms part of our continued priority to protect children from sexual exploitation from those who seek to do them harm. "Law enforcement operates across the internet, and we will relentlessly seek to bring to justice individuals who use the web to facilitate the abuse of children. If anyone has been a victim of child sexual abuse, I would urge you to report it to your local police force via 101. We will always follow up allegations of abuse, no matter when they occurred. Victims can talk in confidence to experienced investigators and we can also help them get access to a range of other support services. If you have concerns about your use of the internet or inappropriate thoughts or behaviour about children, or if you are worried about how someone you know behaves around children or are worried about their use of the internet, then the Lucy Faithfull Foundation provide a free, anonymous and confidential Stop It Now! helpline on 0808 1000 900 for advice, support and information.

Description

An obsessed sexual predator was trapped after making highly explicit online suggestions to a fake 14-year-old girl and offering to be her "sugar daddy".

Father-of-five Kevin Denholm, 57, told the decoy girl that he liked younger girls but he later branded his behaviour "vile and disgusting".

He contacted the girl in the early hours and "very quickly" made "graphic" and extremely sexualised comments to her, Hull Crown Court heard.

Denholm, of Boulton Grove, Hull, admitted attempting to incite a girl to engage in sexual activity, sexual communication and a sexual act between July 30 and August 3 last year.

Michele Stuart-Lofthouse, prosecuting, said that the founder of a group aimed at stopping online contact with children posed as a 14-year-old girl.

Denholm contacted the fake girl in the early hours and said "Hi."

He told her that he worked on the railway and said: "I'm a lot older than you but I like younger girls. If you want a sugar daddy, I'm yours."

The non-existent girl replied: "I'm 14, though" but he said: "Do you want to play? Do you want to chat with me?"

They exchanged mobile phone numbers and, in WhatsApp messages, Denholm made highly sexualised suggestions.

"The defendant went into graphic detail," said Miss Stuart-Lofthouse.

"He was sexually graphic, describing numerous sexual activities. The sexual chat continued."

Denholm sent three intimate pictures of himself and a video of himself committing a sex act and others showing pictures and videos of women.

The two discussed the possibility of meeting up but nothing specific was arranged.

The online group founder confronted Denholm and the police were alerted.

Mark Savage, mitigating, said the offences happened over a relatively short period of time.

"This became sexualised very, very quickly," said Mr Savage.

"He offers no excuses for his behaviour. It was a huge error of judgement that cost him his job.

"Thankfully, he was stopped in his tracks. It is not something that he would ever commit again."

Denholm had said: "I can't imagine how any child would cope with what I have done.

"It's vile and disgusting what I have done. Whether it's a decoy or not, it's disgusting. I can never make amends."

Judge John Thackray QC told Denholm: "You thought you were engaging in sexual communication with a 14-year-old girl. Thankfully, it was a decoy.

"The actual harm was mercifully none. There was a very significant disparity in age."

Denholm had tried to conceal evidence by deleting messages.

"I accept there is some genuine remorse," said Judge Thackray.

"Only appropriate punishment can be achieved by way of an immediate custodial sentence."

Denholm was jailed for two years and was given a ten-year sexual harm prevention order. He must register as a sex offender for ten years.

Description

A disgraced police officer who sexually abused a young girl while he volunteered at a children's home during the 1970s is spared jail after two failed suicide attempts left him in a wheelchair.

Tim Lively, 62, from Bidford-on-Avon, Warwickshire, was shown 'mercy' from a judge at Warwick Crown Court on Monday after they heard he is now in a wheelchair as a result of driving his car into a tree.

The former sergeant and detective constable was convicted of two charges of indecent assault and one of gross indecency back in May 2019.

Lively committed the offences in the 1970s when he was a Warwickshire police cadet and volunteering at a children's home.

The police officer appeared at Warwick Crown Court in a wheelchair on Monday and was handed a 20-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months.

Sentencing him, Judge Anthony Potter said he was sparing him from prison following his two failed suicide bids.

He said: 'Following his conviction Mr Lively made first an attempt to take an overdose, and then a couple of days later made a bid to end his life by driving his car at speed into a tree.

'That has left him confined to a wheelchair and has profoundly affected his short-term memory, and he is also assessed as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

'I sentence you for offences you committed over 40 years ago and were convicted of over two years ago.

'Your personal circumstances were very different.

'You came from a loving home, and she was in care at the home where you volunteered. She was particularly vulnerable, something which you quickly identified.

'You befriended her and gained her trust and then sought to exploit that.

'It began when you were 16 or 17 and in the police cadets. She did it because she was scared and saw you as a figure of authority.

'You were not willing to admit what you had done, which caused a great deal of unpleasant memories to be dredged up, and it has had a continuing impact on her.

'I am just persuaded, as an act of mercy, that I can suspend the sentence.'

Judge Potter also slapped him with an 8pm-7am curfew for three months, and ordered him to register as a sex offender for ten years.

The court heard Lively became a wealthy businessman after leaving Warwickshire Police in 1986.

Following a 15-week he was found guilty of two charges of indecently assaulting a girl in the late 1970s and one of gross indecency with the same girl.

He was cleared of nine further charges relating to four boys. A further 14 charges were allowed to lie on file after Lively was deemed unfit for trial.

Prosecutor Rosina Cottage QC told the court Lively abused the girl, who was between 10 and 12, while he volunteered at a children's home.

Stephen Vullo QC, defending, said: 'He is in a wheelchair, and will be for life, and has a brain injury which he will have for life.

'He has to a large extent suffered very significant punishment already.'

Description

A convicted sex offender who went illegally off the radar for a month has been handed a lengthy jail term for his 12th breach of a court order.

Mark King, now 49, was made subject to sex offender registration requirements by a judge in 2012. That was part of his punishment for an offence of exposure. It means that upon his release from any prison sentence, until February 2022, King must declare a fixed address; or, if homeless, must notify police of that fact within a specified time.

But in recent years, homeless King has committed a host of breaches in different areas of the UK and received jail terms which have increased in length.

In 2018, King was jailed for a breach that came to light after he was found sleeping rough in a Penrith park. The following year he was handed a 28-month sentence in the Midlands. And at Carlisle Crown Court today he was imprisoned again for a breach that occurred after contact was lost with him during October.

He was released from police custody in relation to a seven-day remand for theft and breach of order, prosecutor Tim Evans told the court. He was given 50. He indicated he was going to travel to Birmingham. He didnt in fact get there. In effect, he simply slipped off the radar until the end of October when he was arrested.

King admitted flouting notification requirements and was sentenced by Judge Simon Medland QC, who noted it was his 12th such breach in less than a decade.

Judge Medland jailed King for 30 months, seeing no alternative to a lengthy prison term and telling the defendant: It just doesnt seem to get through to you that the courts must take this seriously.

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Alan Mennie, of Hebburn, has been jailed for more than four years for attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity Online predator Alan Mennie has been jailed after he was exposed by paedophile hunters engaging in sex chats with what he thought were two underage girls. The loner believed he was communicating with youngsters aged 11 and 13 over the internet but had been duped by Secret Whispers, an organisation behind fake profiles that are set up to snare paedophiles. Now Mennie, 42, has been jailed for four years and one month at Newcastle Crown Court after he admitted two charges of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity. Prosecutor Andrew Espley said: "This defendant engaged in sexual conversations with two separate people online, pretending to be children. "Penetrative sexual activity was discussed and it emerged that those were fake profiles, set up by Secret Whispers." The first conversation took place between October 2018 and April 2019. Mr Espley said Mennie "made it clear he wasn't concerned she was 13" and asked if she had been with an older man. Mennie invited the child to his home and engaged in graphic sexual conversation. The second chat was between March and April 2019 and Mennie believed the girl was just 11. Mr Espley said: "Full sexual intercourse was discussed." The court heard Mennie tried to persuade both child profiles to perform sex acts on themselves. As well as the prison sentence, Mennie, of Tharsis Road, Hebburn, South Tyneside, must abide by a sexual harm prevention order and sign the sex offenders register for life. Judge Spragg said Mennie has never lived with a partner or lived apart from his mother, who is now in her 80s and is "socially isolated". Nick Lane, defending, said: "He very much regrets the way he behaved and recognises the seriousness of his offending." Mr Lane said Mennie became withdrawn after the sudden death of his father when he was younger. The court heard Mennie was employed for a few years after leaving school but was then unable to work due to anxiety and depression, which he received counselling for.

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A man who carried out a series of horrific sexual attacks over several years has been jailed, following an investigation by the Met.

Kevin Smith, 55 (23.05.66), of Edwin Street, E16, was sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Tuesday, 23 November having earlier pleaded guilty at the same court to 18 counts of rape and assault by penetration.

Smith, who also used the name 'Ian Dormer', will serve six years on licence on release.

The offences began in January 2016 with the last in July 2021.

The victim, who is a vulnerable woman, disclosed what was happening to mental health services staff and they alerted police shortly afterward.

Smith was arrested on Saturday, 24 July. He was charged and remanded in custody the following day.

Officers from the North East Safeguarding Team conducted a fast-moving and meticulous investigation. Smith's phone was seized and interrogated, revealing a disturbing search history around rape and other sexual offences and the legality around them.

A thorough search of Smith's address was also conducted, during which officers discovered he had made plans to flee before police arrival. He had removed the sofa, bed and wardrobe in apparent attempt to give the impression he had not lived there, and had also packed what was left of his belongings into boxes.

On his phone officers found he had researched where he could go to disappear within the UK, and how he could get rid of his phone so that the police would never find it.

Detective Constable India Allen said: "This was a harrowing investigation involving a female victim who suffered terribly at the hands of Smith, who used a position of trust to abuse her.

"Her support during our investigation and the judicial process has been crucial. I would like to thank and praise her for the outstanding courage and bravery she has shown. I hope Smith's substantial sentence will give her some small measure of comfort as she looks to the next chapters of her life, safe in the knowledge that Smith is behind bars.

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A former science teacher has been jailed for being in a sexual relationship with a pupil.

Robert Hanna, 43 (11.01.78) of Southwark, London appeared at Inner London Crown Court on Tuesday, 23 November where he was jailed for three years for six counts of sexual activity with a child whilst in a position of trust.

Detective Constable Erica Slater, from Central South Command, said: "This was a complex case where Hanna denied everything from the beginning and lied continuously throughout the case. However, the victim courageously remained steadfast in her evidence and following a thorough investigation his accounts were disproved.

"Today's sentence highlights the severity of this case and I would encourage anyone who is a victim of or victim to sexual abuse in any context to contact police. We have specially trained officers to investigate as well as ensuring there is ongoing support provided to the victims."

Hanna had previously been found guilty following a trial at the same court on Tuesday, 19 October, following a 12-day trial. During the trial the investigating detective travelled to the North East of England in order to obtain further evidence from the victim and additional evidence to secure the unanimous guilty verdict.

He has also been issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), preventing him from having any unsupervised contact with people under 18 and he will be subject to the Sex Offenders Register for life.

The court heard how Hanna was a teacher at a school in Southwark from 2015 until May 2019 when he was subsequently dismissed.

During this time he began having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old pupil whom he helped to achieve good grades in physics.

During a school prom he asked a group of pupils to meet up with him. Hanna then purchased alcohol and met with a few of the girls.

A sexual relationship began with the victim, over a four-month period. The victim told Hanna that she wanted the relationship to end but he persuaded her to meet with him one more time, he then broke up with her.

On Monday, 1 April 2019 the victim found the courage to inform a teacher of what had been happening and the school immediately suspended him. Police were alerted and an investigation began, led by specialist officers from Central South Child Abuse Investigation Team.

Officers interviewed him the following day and he denied being in a sexual relationship with the victim. A subsequent investigation found hotel check in and check out confirmation, banks statements and phone download evidence that corroborated the account given by the victim.

In May 2020 Hanna was charged as above.

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A man has been sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment following his conviction on a number of non-recent sexual offences against a girl.

48-year-old John Anthony Searle of Bay Road in Bracknell, was convicted by jury of one count of rape of a girl under 13, and two counts of sexual assault of a girl under 13.

Searle will have to sign the sex offenders register for life and made the subject of Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

The offences were non-recent and he assaulted his victim over a two-year period.

Searle will have to sign the sex offenders register for life and made the subject of Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

The offences were non-recent and he assaulted his victim over a two-year period.

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A Penclawdd man has been jailed for nine years following an intelligence-led operation by Tarian, the regional organised crime unit, along with South Wales Police. A previously convicted paedophile Steven Morris 58, from Penclawdd in Swansea appeared before Swansea Crown Court today for sentencing, where he had previously pleaded guilty to sexually communicating with a child, meeting a child following sexual grooming as well as breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order. He was arrested on the 14th October 2021 by detectives from Tarian Disruption Unit and investigated by Swansea Criminal Investigation Department, where he was remanded in custody until his appearance today. Morris engaged in conversation with what he believed to be a 13-year-old girl, who was in fact an undercover police officer. He told the officer Do mum and dad know u chat? My wife doesnt xxx. Upon hearing she was just 13 years old Morris stated As long as u arent police or gonna report me Im happy to chat and meet up if u are genuine. Morris conversations with the officer became more sexually explicit, he sent images of himself and began to suggest that the pair meet in person, saying things like If we meet it would be really secret xxxx. A date was then arranged for Morris to meet with the undercover officer at a location in Pontypridd on the 14th October 2021. Once he arrived at the agreed location he was quickly arrested by officers from TARIANs Disruption Team. Morris was given a nine-year extended sentence. Four of which will be spent in prison. He was placed on the Registered Sex Offenders list indefinitely, and was given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years. Detective Inspector Dave Bancroft said: This is an excellent operation between Tarian South Wales Police. It is our absolute priority to protect and keep children safe in our communities, irrelevant of who or where that threat comes from. Law enforcement operates across the internet, and we will relentlessly seek to bring to justice individuals who use the web to facilitate the abuse of children. If anyone has been a victim of child sexual abuse, I urge you to report it to your local police force via 101. We will always follow up allegations of abuse, no matter when they occurred. Victims can talk in confidence to experienced investigators and we can also help them get access to a range of other support services.

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A man has been jailed for 12 years after he was found guilty of a string of sexual offences against children.

Alan Robert Henneberry, of Grantham, committed the offences in 2019 and 2020 against two victims aged under 13.

He had been found guilty on 16 September after a trial at Lincoln Crown Court.

Lincolnshire Police said the 34-year-old had committed "some of the most grave" offences and caused serious harm to children.

Henneberry, of Shaw Road, Grantham, was charged with two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, one count of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, and one count of sexual assault of a child by sexual touching.

He also previously pleaded guilty to charges of possession of, making and taking indecent images of children.

Det Con Helen Morris, of Lincolnshire Police's protecting vulnerable persons unit, said: "There is no length of sentence that could make up for the actions of this man.

"He is guilty of some of the most grave offences, causing the most serious harm to children."

She also paid tribute to victims and witnesses in the case whose "strength... helped to put this dangerous man behind bars".

Henneberry was also added to the sex offenders register for life and is to be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

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A dangerous predatory offender who targeted teenage girls and then sexually and physically assaulted them has been jailed.

Joshua Plunkett, 25 (27.11.95), of Reginald Road, Lewisham, was sentenced at Croydon Crown Court on Thursday, 18 November to 14-and-a-half years' imprisonment. He will serve at least eight-and-a-half years of the sentence in prison, with the remainder to be served on licence. He also received a 15 year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will be on the Sex Offenders Register.

He was convicted at the same court on Friday, 17 September of:

- Possession of a prohibited image;

- Sexual communications with a child;

- Controlling coercive behaviour;

- Disclosing private photographs;

- Actual bodily harm;

- Two counts of sexual activity with a child;

- Perverting the course of justice;

- Causing a child to watch a sexual act;

- Breach of a Sexual Risk Order;

- Failing to comply with section 49 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

The court heard that Plunkett targeted five teenage girls aged between 13 and 18, between 2016 and 2020.

After befriending his victims online, he would then exercise coercive control and abuse them physically, sexually and emotionally. Several victims told detectives he used 'strangle holds' on them. He broke the finger of one of his victims and bit her so forcefully that a complete mouth impression was left.

Plunkett used coercive control to dominate his vulnerable victims and would publish graphic images of them online to punish them and cause embarrassment if they upset him or tried to break contact.

Even after he was arrested and charged, following a comprehensive investigation by the Met's Modern Slavery and Child Exploitation Team, his reign of terror did not stop as he sought to intimidate one of his victims while on remand to avoid justice.

Plunkett's offending began in 2016, then aged 20, when he started an online conversation with [Victim 1] who was 15 at the time. As the victim started to feel Plunkett genuinely liked her, he started to ask her to send him intimate pictures of herself. She told him no because she was not ready and Plunkett responded by sending nasty messages and abusing her via text message. The victim relented and sent him a series of sexual photographs.

In July 2017, Plunkett began a conversation with [Victim 2] who was 13. He asked her how old she was, and she added a year to her true age and responded 14, but that did not deter Plunkett and he sent her a series of sexual messages.

[Victim 3] first met Plunkett through Facebook when she was 15 and they started messaging. They met up in March 2018 when she was 18 and he was 22. As the relationship developed, Plunkett began demanding access to her social media accounts. In May 2018, Plunkett demanded her phone and when she refused he grabbed her around the neck and strangled her. He did the same thing just three weeks later. In June 2018, the victim ended the relationship. This angered Plunkett who logged onto her social media account and was abusive and rude and sent a number of explicit pictures and videos of the two of them engaging in sexual activity to her friends and family. Plunkett's actions ruined the victim's modelling career and damaged her self-esteem.

Plunkett met [Victim 4] in 2018 when she was 15 and he had sex with her. In September 2018 the two were play fighting when he deliberately took hold of her finger and tried to snap it, which resulted in a suspected break. While on remand in prison in December 2018, Plunkett persuaded the victim that it was her fault he was still in custody because of what she had said in her police interview. Over the next four weeks or so he made a concerted effort to persuade the victim to retract her account that there had been any sexual element to their relationship. His efforts worked and she withdrew her statement in January 2019. However, after speaking with detectives she thankfully changed her mind and further disclosed the full extent of the abuse in June 2020.

In January 2020, having been released from custody on bail, Plunkett attended [Victim 4]'s home uninvited, giving an excuse that he thought he had taken her keys a couple of weeks earlier. Breaching the Sexual Risk Order that detectives had secured, he entered the victim's bedroom while she was listening to music and immediately started punching her repeatedly in the face and head, causing her to fall to the floor. He then kicked her in the face and gave her a cut to her forehead which bled profusely. She managed to get slightly towards the door when he pulled her back by her hair – pulling some of it out – and she fell to the floor again where he resumed kicking her. He then took the victim's mobile phone and bankcard and left the scene. All this was witnessed by her 12-year-old sister.

Plunkett contacted [Victim 5] over Snapchat in September 2019. He told her he was 16, but he was in fact almost 24. The victim told him her true age, 14. Plunkett asked the victim to watch some of his videos on Snapchat story. One of the videos he sent was of him having sex, so the victim blocked him. In the summer of 2020, while on remand for these offences, Plunkett attempted to add the victim as one of the contacts he could phone from prison. He lied to the prison authorities and said she was his 24-year-old cousin, meaning he once again breached his Sexual Risk Order.

Detectives began their investigation into Plunkett in September 2018, and first arrested him in November 2018. He was further arrested another three times throughout 2018 and 2019. It was a complex investigation which involved five victims and offending dating back to 2016. It took eight months of detectives closely working with the victims before the full extent of Plunkett's abuse came out.

Detectives also worked tirelessly behind the scenes to protect the victims and any potential future ones by doing things such as applying for Sexual Risk Orders, working closely with the prison to gain intelligence and making a Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act application after he refused to provide the PIN for his phone.

Detective Constable Natalie Franklin, the investigating officer from the Met's Modern Slavery and Child Exploitation Team, said: "Plunkett is a cruel monster who preyed on young teenage girls. He would make their lives a living nightmare for his own twisted pleasure by abusing them with sexual, physical and emotional violence. He is the personification of violence against women. Even when he was on remand awaiting trial he exercised his control by intimidating one of his victims and making her so fearful that she withdrew her statement.

"This was a complex investigation which involved hundreds of hours of enquiries to be carried out, but we were happy to work around the clock to make sure that Plunkett was brought to justice so he could not hurt and control any more young girls.

"I would like to praise the bravery of Plunkett's victims who came forward and gave evidence. It cannot have been easy for them to re-live their traumatic ordeals, but their courage resulted in us being able to build a strong case against Plunkett which has resulted in him being put behind bars for a considerable amount of time."

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Depraved Brian Cairns paid to have very young children sexually abused and tortured so he could watch the vile abuse live on camera.

The twisted 60-year-old sent money online to "facilitators " in the Philippines to he could direct the horrific abuse of girls as young as four as he observed it.

Newcastle Crown Court heard he kept screenshots of what he had ordered, "almost off a menu".

During one of the sickening live shows, Cairns asked the for a break to go and get some cigarettes so he could smoke while he watched the "unsafe and degrading" acts.

Prosecutor Paul Cleasby told the court officers from Northumbria Police Paedophile Investigation Team had seized Cairns' computer devices after they received information he had been sending "large sums of money" overseas in exchange for child abuse images.

Mr Cleasby said an analysis of Cairns' computer revealed a series of chats and added: "It was clear from the conversations money had been paid by the defendant in order for sexual abuse of children to take place live on
camera while he watched."

The court heard Cairns ordered that the abused girls should be under eight years old and made specific requests involving "degrading violence" that he wanted done to them.

One of the victims was four and the other between six and eight.

Cairns, of Pendle Close, Washington, admitted two charges of inciting the sexual exploitation of a child and two of making indecent photographs of a child.

Judge Amanda Rippon jailed Cairns for 13 years with an extended one year licence period.

The judge said the offences were "some of the most depraved I have had the displeasure to come across in my work in the criminal justice system in the context of child abuse".

Judge Rippon said: "Suffice to say, these offences are of the most grave kind.

"You ordered, almost off a menu, for children who you did not want to be older than eight, to me not just abused but tortured - and they were.

"They were tortured for your sexual gratification in the most abhorrent way.

"You even told them to wait at one point so you could go and get some cigarettes so you could smoke while you watched.

"You directed the abuse.

"These children are very young, desperately so in the context of what you were requesting was done to them."