Latest Offenders

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A man has been sentenced to 24 years for child sex offences.

Darren Wheatley was given the sentence on Tuesday, 22 December, at Worcester Crown Court after he had been found guilty on Friday 18 December.

The 55 year old, from Lion Street, Kidderminster, had been charged with 20 offences of rape of a child under 13 and will be placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

The sentencing follows an investigation by Kidderminster CID.

Detective Sergeant Iain Standing said: “This was an especially disturbing case and I’m pleased this man will now face a considerable amount of time in prison for his vile actions.

“It has taken great courage and bravery for his victims to come forward and face the personal challenges of a trial.

“I also hope this conviction will provide reassurance to other victims of sexual offences, giving them the confidence to report their ordeal in the knowledge that they will be listened to and supported. Police will always investigate and do everything in their power to bring offenders like this to justice.”

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A CHILD rapist from west Swindon has been jailed for 19 years. Jailing John Whelan at Swindon Crown Court on Monday, Judge Jason Taylor QC told him: Your grooming and manipulation was nothing more than a selfish and perverted desire to prioritise your sexual gratification over their welfare. Recent changes to the law mean that the 64-year-old will spend at least two thirds of that 19 year sentence behind bars. Once he is released he must spend a further two years on licence. Whelan was found guilty earlier this month of indecent assault, gross indecency with a child and rape. The offences were committed between the mid-1990s and 2000s against two girls, both of whom were under 11 when the abuse began. His younger victim, who was raped by Whelan after being made to perform sex acts on him while they played games in his man cave, told the court on Monday that she had felt totally and utterly powerless. She said: I have carried around the weight of the world on my shoulders for most of my life. The older woman said Whelan had stolen her childhood and the person she could have been. Mitigating, Whelans barrister Clare Evans said her client had been a hardworking family man whos done everything he can to support his family. John Whelan's custody shot Picture: WILTSHIRE POLICE During the trial, jurors heard how Whelan turned his abuse of the children into games, including instructing one seven-year-old girl to play hide and seek with his private parts after covering his genitals with a blanket. The abuse was perpetrated from the mid-90s to mid-2000s. The older girl claimed Whelan had occasionally babysat her while her mother was out at work and she had also been looked after at his family home. Jurors were told he had arrived to babysit her at her home with what he called special films pornography that he would make her watch while she sat on his lap. He was said to have molested her; touching her sexually and getting her to touch him. The touching continued at his own home, as they played video games in his man cave, although he would not expose himself at the house. Opening the case to the jury last week, prosecutor David Scutt said: She said this: It was our secret, it was our little game and that, no doubt was what he was telling her as that young girl. As she got older she had refused to take part in the games, she claimed. When her mum switched work shifts the girl no longer needed to be babysat by the man. On the occasions she went around to his house she stayed close to her mum, Mr Scutt said. The older girl said she had noticed Whelan taking an interest in another younger girl. They would both be called upstairs to watch TV in his bedroom. On occasion he would be wearing a towel, she claimed. The younger girl claimed Whelan had begun sexually abusing her when she was around seven. She said the man had shown her pornographic playing cards and websites. He had been grooming her, Mr Scutt said. He was getting her to look at it, this is to say the stuff on the computer, and what was described as his game; it was made into play for this young child. He would get her to look at videos, she said, and he told her what he wanted her to do. The girl claimed she had been made to touch him sexually and perform oral sex on him. On one occasion he raped her, she said. [He said] he was going to make her happy like the ladies in the videos, Mr Scutt said. One victim said she had experienced urinary problems during her childhood. During Whelans sentencing hearing, the judge suggested that could be the result of a sexually transmitted infection. The abuse was reported to police in early 2019. In December the previous year, the younger woman had told her mother and father she had been raped by Whelan. Her brother was instrumental in persuading her to go to the police, jurors heard. The woman had told her then partner later her husband about the abuse. The older woman came forward after being told by her mother that the younger complainant had gone to the police. Interviewed by police last year, Whelan denied sexually assaulting the girls. He said the pornographic cards belonged to his late father. Sentencing Whelan, Judge Taylor said: You forced [your victims] to live with this shameful secret for years, knowing as they did that if they ever came forward it would go nuclear. It took tremendous courage for them to come forward but at last they feel back in control for the first time for 20 and 15 years respectively. The judge commented that Whelan, formerly of Stamford Close, Toothill, but appearing in court via video link from Bristol prison, had been shaking his head as he summarised the evidence against him.

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Moore, who was 21-year-old at the time of the offence had used Snapchat to contact the girl from the New Forest area who cannot be named for legal reasons.

He then drove across the country from his home in Station Road, Croydon to meet his victim who was accompanied by a friend.

The officer in the case, Detective Sergeant, Claire Ratcliffe told the Daily Echo how at first the girls thought Moore, 24, was "kind and funny".

However, at some point his victim "ended up on her own" and he sexually assaulted her.

The girls reported the rape which he denied to the police straight away.

On Tuesday, a jury delivered a unanimous guilty verdict and convicted Moore on one count of rape following a seven day trial at Southampton Crown Court.

Prosecution barrister, Tim Moores, read out a victim impact statement which said how the girl's life had been ruined and how the event will be with her forever.

Extracts from the statement said: "During the time he had locked me in the back of the car I was terrified he was going to kill me."

"I have to live the rest of my life knowing what he did to me. I will never escape it."

She has suffered sleepless nights and has cried herself to sleep, the court heard.

Defending, Len Furlong, argued Moore has no relevant previous convictions.

He added that the fact the case had taken since 2018 to be dealt with was also a mitigating factor.

During sentencing, Judge Nicholas Rowland said: "She repeatedly said stop and you did not do so."

Moore wept as he was jailed for six years and six months.

He will have to register as a sex offender for life.

DS Claire Ratcliffe said: "I am absolutely delighted with the result.

"I just can't commend the victim enough for the strength she has shown over the last two years.

"I hope that it can be of some closure for her."

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A WEYMOUTH man has been jailed for four years and two months for grooming offences involving a 14-year-old girl. Matthew Lucas Cheshire, aged 21 and of Ranelagh Road, was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court today after admitting three offences of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and a charge of sexual activity with a child. He was sentenced to a total of four years and two months in prison with an extended licence period of a further two years. The defendant was also made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for a period of 10 years. Cheshire who was 20 at the time was first arrested by officers from Dorset Police on August 6, 2020 following a report from a third party that he had been involved in a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl who he had contacted over social media. When he was interviewed, the defendant said he had been in contact with her over social media but denied any sexual contact or communication. Cheshire was released on police bail and his phone was seized for examination. It revealed messages exchanged between the defendant and the 14-year-old girl involving sexualised content and there were references to sexual activity that had taken place between them. He was further arrested on September 10 following reports that he had been seen with the girl, in breach of his bail conditions. It was also found that Cheshire had continued to message the girl in a further breach of the terms of his bail. Detective Constable Andy Hale, of Dorset Polices Child Exploitation Team, said: Matthew Cheshire groomed his young victim over social media and engaged in a sexual relationship with her, despite knowing her age. Even when he was arrested and given bail conditions not to contact her, he continued to message the girl and meet up with her. Cheshire has received a significant sentence for his offending and the victim has been safeguarded as a result of a detailed investigation. I hope this will encourage anyone else who is the victim of this type of offending to come forward in the knowledge that action will be taken and offenders will be prosecuted.

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Michael Geoffrey Smith befriended the parents of one of boys to convince them he could be trusted to be alone with him.

The judge ruled Smith had "caused him grave, permanent and serious psychological harm and impacted greatly on his life", labelling it "sick sexual abuse".

Smith, who previously lived in Freemantle Close, Oakridge, had denied seven charges of sexual abuse relating to incidents in the 1980s, before being convicted by a jury.

Guildford Crown Court had heard how the 66-year-old, who was also convicted for similar offences in the 1970s and 1990s, ran a film club in the early 1980s in his maisonette for children in the estate to attend.

Throughout the rest of the summer holidays, he sexually abused the primary school-age boy multiple times, claiming that he was teaching him about sex.

He said that it was "their secret" and that no one would believe the boy if he told them what had happened.

As a result of all the abuse, one victim admitted he had attempted to take his own life on more than one occasion.

Smith was sentenced to eight years in prison, of which he must serve two thirds. The sentence, which had a starting point of 12 years, was reduced on the grounds of his deteriorating health and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on prisoners.

He was also ordered to pay a total of £3,250 of compensation to the victims, and a £149 victim surcharge.

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A prominent Isle of Wight businessman has admitted a string of child sexual abuse offences.

Peter Tomlinson, of Baring Road, Cowes, has pleaded guilty to 12 counts at the Isle of Wight Crown Court today (Friday).

The charges include making 47 category A photos, 148 category B photos and 353 Category C photos.

He has also admitted paying a mother in the Phillipines, over the internet, to commit sexual acts on her children, aged 10 and 12, and paying her for indecent photos of the children.

He has been remanded in custody until sentencing in March - and has been warned he faces a jail term.

The 63-year-old was remanded in custody at an initial hearing at Portsmouth Magistrates' Court on November 18.

The former president of the Isle of Wight Chamber of Commerce was charged as part of a National Crime Agency investigation into child sexual abuse across the world.

Tomlinson paid to watch live-streams of children being sexually abused abroad, in countries including the Philippines.

Today (Friday), Tomlinson has admitted five counts of paying for the sexual services of a girl under 13, two counts of causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a child under 13, two counts of intentionally encouraging/assisting the commission of an either way offence and three counts of making indecent photographs/pseudo photographs of a child.

Recorder Jane Rowley said: "A significant term of imprisonment may be justified."

The matter will now be adjourned for sentencing on March 5.

Defending, Elisabeth Bussey-Jones has asked for pre-sentence reports.

He is required to add his name to the sex offender's register.

A member of the Catholic church, he was the owner and director of Betapak and children's soft play business JR Zone. JR Zone has since changed hands and is under new ownership.

He was also chief executive of IW business Education Destination, which arranges bespoke school visits to the Isle of Wight.

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On 19 November 2020, Alexander Freeman was found guilty of charge 2(Assault to Injury); Charge 4 (Rape); Charge 6(Assault); Charge 8 (Contravention of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937, Section 12 (1) as amended; Charge 9 (Assault to Injury) and Charge 10 (Contravention of Section 1 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009.

On 17 December 2020 at Glasgow High Court he was sentenced:

in respect of charge 2, to be imprisoned for a period of 3 years; in respect of charge 6, to be imprisoned for a period of 2 years; in respect of charge 8, to be imprisoned for a period of 3 years; in respect of charge 9, to be imprisoned for a period of 3 years; in respect of charges 4 and 10, to be imprisoned in terms of Section 210A of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 for a period of 8 years, comprising a custodial period of 6 years and an extended period of 2 years; all said periods to run concurrently and to be backdated to 19 November 2020.

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A serving "predatory" police officer has been jailed after being found guilty of child sex offences. Sgt Michael Grigg, 34, of Hertfordshire Police, was sentenced to six and a half years at Harrow Crown Court. A jury found him guilty on two counts of penetrative sexual activity with a child. Police said he committed the offences while working as a cadet leader and his actions "amounted to a gross abuse of his position". He has been placed on the sex offenders register for life and is subject to a sexual harm prevention order. Grigg, formerly of Hatfield, was arrested as part of an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) managed investigation conducted by Hertfordshire Constabulary's Safeguarding Command, police said. Det Supt Michael Trotman said: "Grigg's predatory actions amounted to a gross abuse of his position of trust in the most calculated and appalling way. "We pay tribute to the courage of the victim, who bravely came forward and had to go through the ordeal of giving evidence at court. "Grigg's lack of remorse throughout the course of the investigation and subsequent trial has been startling." He said the force had reviewed its process in line with IOPC recommendations around the management of police cadet records and are fully compliant with the updated national guidelines. Grigg has been suspended from his role and will face a misconduct hearing.

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A Deptford security guard who raped a woman who mistook his car for a mini-cab while on duty has been jailed. Sola Austin Warikwah, 39, of Albyn Road, appeared at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday, December 17, where he was jailed for seven years for rape, having been found guilty in September. He was also issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), and was placed on the sex offenders register for life. The victim had been drinking in a nightclub in Bethnal Green before she arrived around the Embankment area in central London, encountering Warikwah in the early hours of Easter Monday, April 22, 2019. Warikwah, a security patrol manager for contractor Securitas, was tasked with visiting sites and patrolling areas of central London between 7pm on April 21 and 7am on April 22, including the car park in Belgravia where the victim was raped. During her ordeal, the victim, who was in her 20s, managed to send messages to a friend. She wrote: Ive been raped. I feel sick. This taxi wont take me home. Im scared. She later managed to escape the car, taking photographs of her assailant as he walked away. Warikwah was arrested at his home address in Deptford two days later. Detective Sergeant John Paton, of Westminster Sapphire Team in the Safeguarding Unit, said: Sola Austin Warikwah is a predatory sex offender who targeted a vulnerable, unsuspecting woman travelling alone. Due to the courage and quick thinking of the victim, assistance from the public and the veracity of the investigation, a dangerous offender has been placed where he is no longer a threat to women. I sincerely hope that the sentence handed down today encourages other victims of sexual offences to come forward.

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A former police officer who downloaded child rape videos while he was in the force has been jailed for a year.

Derek Kennedy was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for ten years after being caught with thousands of sickening child porn images.

Detectives discovered nearly 5,000 child porn images and over 18 hours of graphic video footage when they carried out a raid on their ex-colleague's home.

Kennedy, who was serving with Police Scotland when he started downloading illicit material in 2016, initially claimed he had downloaded images by accident.

But analysis of the haul on his devices showed he had filed them in specific folders and installed special equipment to try and hide the material.

He told officers "something in the back of my mind made me keep them" when they found a number of the depraved pictures on his mobile phone.

At first he denied having a sexual interest in the material, but was later found to have stored and backed up a large haul of images and videos over three years.

Kennedy, 34, from Dundee, admitted downloading child porn at his home in Butters Road, Dundee, between 10 August 2016 and 16 July last year.

Fiscal depute Eilidh Robertson told Dundee Sheriff Court: "He has no previous convictions.

"He is 34 and is currently unemployed.

"On 29 August 2019 the police carried out a search at the accused's home and seized a mobile telephone.

"Indecent images of children were recovered during preliminary analysis.

"He was arrested and taken to police HQ in Dundee.

"He admitted he had downloaded indecent images of children, but had not done it intentionally and couldn't understand why he kept them.

"He said 'something in the back of my mind made me keep them.'

"He admitted masturbating to the images but said he had no sexual interest in children."

She said two laptops and the phone were seized and Kennedy was found to have moved the porn haul into various folders on the devices.

"There was evidence he had copied some from one laptop to another and had also copied some on the phone into a specific folder.

"Peer-to-peer file sharing software had been used to search and download indecent images of children.

He had privacy tools on one laptop and was using the Tor browser to enable anonymity."

Ms Robertson told the court that Kennedy was caught with 4,707 indecent images and 1,118 child porn videos featuring children from infant age up to 15.

"The images featured both males and females, but mainly females.

"The videos had 18 hours, six minutes and 40 seconds total run time."

She said the bulk of the material was defined as Category A - the most serious, and featuring scenes of child rape, bestiality and sadism.

Solicitor Theo Finlay, defending, said: "He has been in employment fairly regularly throughout his adult life and was a serving police officer.

"He had to resign for medical reasons.

"He has had a history of mental health difficulties."

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A serial rapist attacked a 17-year-old girl just months after convincing a Parole Board he wasn't a threat so he could be released from a life sentence for a similar attack 14 years ago, a court has heard.

William Trotter, 39, hit his victim around the head with a blunt object, strangled her until she lost consciousness and brutally raped her in undergrowth along a street in Bromley, London.

He denied rape and kidnap with intent to commit a sexual offence but was convicted by a jury at Croydon Crown Court and sentenced to to life, serving a minimum of 12 years before he can apply for parole.

Trotter attacked his teenage victim on March 19, moments after they both got off the N199 bus to Bromley, south London.

He was previously jailed in 2006 but was released last year after convincing a parole board he was no longer a risk of sexual offending.

Nine months after he walked free, Trotter pulled on the pink face covering and spoke to the girl on the bus. He got off with her at the same stop and pretended to head in the opposite direction but turned round and ran after her.

The girl was walking past Southborough Library bus stop and turned right down Southborough Lane towards Turpington Lane. Trotter hit her over the head with a blunt object and grabbed her around the throat.

She screamed but he dragged her into the undergrowth and raped her. Residents heard her screams and called the police who arrived four minutes later as the woman was staggering out.

James Thacker, prosecuting, said: 'The extent of the violence used here was sustained and significant, and could probably be regarded as extreme.

'She was vulnerable and this was known by this defendant when he decided to follow her, abduct and rape her.'

Officers spotted Trotter and chased him through nearby woods - but lost sight of him as he scrambled over a wall into an allotment.

The offence was almost identical to the one he carried out in 14 years ago. Trotter had been drinking cans of strong lager all day before launching his latest attack.

He told her: 'I just want to look at you, I don't know what I'm doing.' Trotter added: 'Why do you have to be so nice, I can't do it' before he kissed her.

She tried to reason with him asking if he had a wife or sister and he lied, saying he had two daughters. He pulled her by the hair onto the ground, hit her head against the wall and started to strangle her.

When she told him she could not breathe he said: 'I don't care, I'll kill you, you're nothing to me.' Trotter dragged her along the ground and told her to kneel down while he was groping her backside and thighs.

During the ordeal that followed Trotter told her to put her head on his shoulder so they looked like a normal couple. He twice raped his screaming victim while apologising to her, before she managed to run home and call the police.

Trotter was arrested six days later after DNA from his semen found in the victim's knickers matched that on his police file. Trotter admitted four charges of rape but claimed he could not remember the attack.

He was given an indeterminate sentence which meant that he could be kept in jail for life. Trotter was first released on 13 June 2014, but committed further offences including aggravated vehicle taking on 18 October of that year.

He was jailed for 20 months and served half before his release from jail in June 2019.

Trotter insisted he was a changed man in a series of interviews and was given his freedom subject to 'close monitoring.' He fled to Glasgow after the latest attack and moved in with a relative, lying about the reason for his sudden appearance.

When police launched an appeal they said he had a tattoo of a 'devil gremlin' with the name 'Daniel' on his right arm. A Metropolitan Police Service spokesman said a possible line of inquiry was that he was wearing the mask to hide his identity rather than to repel the coronavirus.

After a nationwide manhunt, Trotter was finally tracked down when he moved back to London. Trotter, dressed in a grey tracksuit and beanie, had denied rape and kidnap with intent to commit a sexual offence but was convicted by a jury.

Reading a statement from the witness box, his latest victim said: 'I was brutally attacked and raped. I have been plugged into a nightmare I have not been able to wake from. He strangled me until I was unconscious and that only ended when the police managed to arrive.

'It's a feeling I can only describe as terror and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. My 18th birthday was destroyed. My happy childhood memories were taken away from me.

'Before the attack, I was a very confident and sociable person. That was all taken away from me when William Trotter took away my confidence, happiness, and innocence.'

Her father, breaking down in tears, said: 'As a father, I remain the most angry and confused that I have ever been in my life. I do not forgive and I will not forget Trotter.'

Passing sentence, Judge Elizabeth Lowe told the rapist: 'You identified her as a target within seconds of seeing her.

'You were chasing after her at speed. When you got within distance of her you struck her with immense power, dragged her into the bushes where you violently raped her.

'You grabbed her around the throat. Throughout the ordeal, she was drifting in and out of consciousness and you told her to shut up or you would f-king kill her.

'It was only the arrival of the police that caused you to stop what you were doing.

'The acts of physical violence that you committed were horrific, her face was covered in blood, her hair was matted from the material of the ground.

'She emerged from the bushes half-naked with her clothes trailing behind. She was begging for help and begging for her mum.

'You've demonstrated absolutely no remorse for your actions.

'You evaded the police. You thought you had gotten away with this for a week or so. When you were finally apprehended on 9 April you pretended to be someone else and then tried to escape from the police and were detained.'

Judge Lowe said Trotter had committed the violent sex attack after convincing the parole board he was no longer a risk.

The judge continued: 'You were subject to close monitoring when you committed this offence. It's without hesitation that I consider that there are significant risks to members of the public. You are an extremely violent serial sexual predator.

'A life sentence is clearly well justified in this case. I observe no mitigating features which merit downward adjustment.'

Trotter, from Bromley, was sentenced to life and will serve a minimum of 12 years before he can apply for parole.

He must keep police informed of personal particulars including any address he may live at if ever released from prison.

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Stephen Boyt was jailed at Southampton Court for twenty years.

The 70-year-old had faced nine counts including indecent assault and a single count of rape.

A jury found him guilty of the historical abuse which took place across Netley View, Calshot and Fawley between 1984 and 1996.

Boyt's victim was seen sobbing and clutching a tissue during footage of a police interview played to members of the jury in November.

During the interview, it was said how Boyt would demand oral sex from his teenage victim.

Struggling to hold back tears, she said he told her no one would believe her claims he had abused her.

She finally reported the abuse to police in August 2018 after suffering a breakdown, the court heard.

Boyt of Beech Crescent, Hythe has a criminal history stretching back to 1967 with convictions for burglary, blackmail, robbery and ABH.

However, with no previous convictions for sexual offences he strenuously denied the charges against him claiming to be an innocent man.

After serving his sentence he will be released on licence.

Description

A green-haired sex offender who spoke to girls as young as 10 years old about wrestling and films, breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, was spared jail after a court heard he is gay and 'has no interest in females'.

Jake Paradise, from Bagshot, Surrey, had used Facebook and WhatsApp messenger to speak to the girls, who were both known to him, without their parents being aware of his serious previous convictions from 2015.

The 28-year-old had been banned from speaking to any child when he was slapped with a court order in 2016 because of his past offending, which a court heard was in relation to boy victims.

Despite knowing the requirements of the order, Paradise had spoken to a 12-year-old girl for at least 25 days from June 15 2017 and then further to a 10-year-old girl from April 1 2018.

Sophie Murray, prosecuting, said: 'It was put forward by the prosecution that the case was category-A due to the persistent nature of the communications.

'I understand that on the last occasion they [the communications] were gone through in some detail, nothing sexual in nature seems to have been communicated, they are in relation to wrestling, films, things of that sort.

'The parents of both girls were not aware of his previous convictions at the time he was communicating with them. He has said he is homosexual and has no interest in females and his previous convictions relate to boys rather than girls.'

Paradise, who had sported green hair on the last occasion he appeared in Reading Crown Court, had admitted two counts of breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and appeared for sentence.

The author of a pre-sentence report had recommended that he be spared jail, a lawyer defending him said, as long as he completes a programme which helps sex offenders stop committing new crimes.

Judge Paul Dugdale, sitting at Reading Crown Court, said: 'I get a sense of these things when I read the texts and I may be wrong, but I do not get the impression that there was anything in this context that was of a sexual nature or was intended to be so.

'As Mr Paradise has pointed out, it is not the sort of contact he would have.'

Paradise, who wore fingerless fishnet gloves and a blue hoodie, the hair on his scalp died blond but at the end of his long, pony-tailed hair the colour changed into a streak of light blue.

The judge told him: 'I think now you know how serious these orders are and the real risk here is that if there had been any suggestion that this contact was anything other than perhaps a foolish error of judgement and that there was anything sexual in it at all, if there was any suggestion of anything else, you would have been going straight inside. You really need to understand that.'

Judge Dugdale sentenced Paradise, of Bagshot Green, Bagshot, Surrey, to a 30-month community order with one rehabilitation activity requirement, which meant the defendant would have to complete 30 days of the Horizon programme.

Description

A depraved man with an obsession for child abuse images took pictures of teenagers urinating in public and then shared them online.

David Parsons, 38, was found in possession of hundreds of indecent images of young children and distributed thousands of images to other paedophiles, including films involving children between six and 12 months old.

The defendant was also found with images he had taken in Cardiff and Bristol of teenage boys urinating in public toilets, including the Cardiff City Stadium.

A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday also heard that Parsons' partner James Carlyon was also found with indecent images of children, the youngest being six months old.

Prosecutor Byron Broadstock said: "On April 9, officers from the police online investigation team executed a search warrant at Forest View, Fairwater, the home address of David Parsons and persons at the address including Parsons and Carlyon.

"The reason for their attendance was explained and Parsons said 'you're going to find images'."

Two mobile phones, belonging to each defendant, was seized and a laptop from Carlyon's home in Quakers Yard, Merthyr Tydfil, was also seized.

On Parsons' phone, officers found; 87 images and four movies of category A, 83 images and six movies of category B, and 703 images and one movie of category C.

The court heard there were links to storage services and active links containing images and video files, in the defendant's notes app on his phone.

Mr Broadstock added: "There were conversations between the defendant and others with similar interests in which they discussed which images they possessed and what images they sought.

"The defendant offered to forward images to others."

The amount distributed by Parsons included; two images and 1,816 movies of category A, eight images and 1,731 movies of category B and 40 images and 396 movies of category C.

During one of the conversations, Parsons was quoted as saying "I have often thought about getting a run away street kid for sex".

Officers also found eight images taken of teenagers urinating in public toilets without their knowledge. One of these was taken in Bristol on December 6, 2019, and at the Cardiff City Stadium on January 31, this year.

On Carlyon's mobile phone, police discovered; 51 images and 176 movies of category A, 43 images and 38 movies of category B, 82 images and nine movies of category C, 40 images and one movie of extreme pornography and one image and one movie of prohibited images.

There was also images of clothed teenage boys taken by Carlyon without their knowledge, at a Merthyr Tydfil retail park where the defendant worked. These images were not subject to charges.

Parsons, of Forest View, Fairwater, pleaded guilty to possession of indecent images, distribution of indecent images and voyeurism.

The defendant had a previous conviction from 2011 for possessing indecent images of children.

Carlyon, whose address was also given as Forest View, Fairwater, pleaded guilty to possession of indecent images, extreme pornographic images and prohibited images of children.

Barrister Richard Ace, representing Parsons, said his client was willing to work to overcome his "entrenched difficulties and problems" and had been working with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation.

He added: "The defendant previously worked at a managerial level in retail. These relapses took place in a period of his life where he lost his job because of his previous conviction which led to minor levels of depression and caused him to do this offending again."

Barrister James Evans, representing Carlyon, said his client had no previous convictions and there was no evidence of distribution in his case.

Sentencing Parsons, Judge Michael Fitton QC said: "The total picture adds to portraying a man who is not just interested in paedophilic images but an obsession with it and your obsession had led you to taking photographs of other people in public places in the act of urination, and sharing it.

"You are a man who has such a depraved outlook there's no question of any means of dealing with you other than a custodial sentence."

Addressing Carlyon, Judge Fitton added: "There are features of your conduct which show a shared interest and common view. The circumstances in which you have been looking together is relevant to how your own thinking and conduct has been degraded.

"If you continue or reestablish a relationship with the defendant and find yourself in court again for similar offences you will be going to prison. If you move on from that relationship and take the opportunity I am giving you, you have the opportunity to move on with your life."

Parsons was sentenced to three years imprisonment and was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order.

Carlyon was sentenced to eight months imprisonment suspended for two years, and was made subject to a 10 day rehabilitation activity requirement and a 10 year sexual harm prevention order.

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At the High Court in Edinburgh today Lord Uist sentenced Dene Stevenson to 6 years imprisonment after the accused was found guilty of the rape of a 14 year old girl.

On sentencing, Lord Uist made the following statement in court:

You were convicted by the jury at Livingston High Court of the rape of a drunken 14 year old girl in muddy woodland in Livingston on 20 October 2017. You supplied her with alcohol, lay on her, pulled her lower clothing down, forced her legs apart and attempted to lick her vagina, repeatedly attempted to penetrate her vagina with your penis, forced her head towards your penis, restrained her and penetrated her vagina with your penis. After the incident she telephoned a friend in a distressed state and said she had been raped by you. She was also observed by others in a distressed and dishevelled state. You later admitted to her father that you had had intercourse with her. It is a matter of concern that you went out that day when you were drunk and befriended a group of much younger girls before walking off into the woods with your victim.

You are now 21 years old and were 18 years old at the time that you committed this crime. You have only one minor previous conviction, which I shall ignore for present purposes. You have history of drug and alcohol abuse and have not worked for over a year. I have considered the criminal justice social work report on you and all that has been said on your behalf in mitigation. Rape is obviously a serious crime which must attract a significant sentence and in this case it is aggravated by the fact that it was a calculated attack in a public place on a defenceless 14 year old girl who had had far too much to drink. The sentence which I impose is 6 years imprisonment, to run from 23 October 2020.

As a result of that sentence you now become subject to the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 for an indefinite period.