Latest Offenders

Description

A former Church of England priest has been found guilty of torturing and sexually abusing two schoolboys in the 1980s and 90s.

Jonathan Graves, 60, of Eastbourne, East Sussex, restrained the children, who were aged between 12 and 14, using belts and straps, and then beat them.

At the time, he was the vicar at St Luke's Church in Stone Cross.

He was convicted at Hove Crown Court of 12 offences between 1987 and 1992 and will be sentenced on Monday.

Graves, of Jervis Avenue, was cleared of five similar charges, including one offence of indecent assault on a 50-year-old woman in 2002, following a nine-day trial.

The court heard how he groomed the boys, plied them with alcohol and tricked them into playing sadistic forfeit games.

Graves was first arrested by police in 2005 following a single complaint.

He was temporarily suspended from working in Sussex churches three years later.

Det Insp Jon Gross, of the Sussex Police Public Protection Command, said the past had "caught up" with Graves.

"The evidence in this case has revealed how he used his position to select his victims and befriend them before callously abusing them for his own sexual gratification.

"His crimes have had a lasting impact upon those he abused.

"The hurt caused by the sexual abuse itself has undoubtedly been compounded by the psychological scars of the abuser being a trusted and influential figure in each of the victims' lives."

Description

A man who "savagely" murdered a college student at a beauty spot has been jailed for a minimum of 31 years.

Mark Buckley, 52, killed 18-year-old Ellen Higginbottom in a "chilling" and "sexually motivated pre-meditated" attack in June at Orrell Water Park in Wigan, Greater Manchester.

Buckley, of New Hall Lane, Preston, admitted the charge at a previous hearing at Manchester Crown Court.

Miss Higginbottom was planning to marry boyfriend Ryan Warren, the court heard.

Judge David Stockdale QC described the murder as "cowardly and callous".

The murder was sexually motivated, the court heard, but the victim was chosen at random, police said.

He said the facts of the case were "frankly chilling".

Ellen was reported missing on 16 June after failing to return home from Winstanley College.

A post-mortem examination confirmed she died from multiple wounds to the neck. Police said she was killed at about 14:00 BST.

Her body was found the next day.

'Beyond imagining'

Slightly-built Miss Higginbottom, who did not know her attacker, was not able to physically offer much resistance in the attack, the judge said.

The Honorary Recorder of Manchester told the defendant: "Despite that, her wounds indicated that she tried albeit in vain to defend herself."

He said Buckley who was armed with a knife subjected her to a "savage and brutal attack".

"She would have had no idea it was coming" and was "caught entirely off her guard".

"She simply did not stand a chance. What must have been going through her mind is beyond imagining."

The court heard Buckley took the psychology student's laptop and mobile phone and fled.

Buckley later returned to the park and moved her body which he then intended to bury when it was dark, the court heard.

He was thwarted as a police helicopter with heat-seeking equipment hovered overhead and he made off, the court heard.

Buckley was later arrested and admitted killing Miss Higginbottom but could offer no explanation for his actions.

Neil Fryman, prosecuting, told the court at a previous hearing: "There was a sexual motivation for this offence and also it was pre-meditated."

'Pointless and idiotic'

The court heard Miss Higginbottom was planning to marry her boyfriend.

The judge said: "Although they were young, the couple was already planning to marry and they were planning ahead to having children.

"All that is now lost to Ryan Warren."

Following sentencing, Ellen's father Mike Higginbottom said: "There can never be anything even remotely approaching justice for what was done to Ellen."

He continued: "We were tremendously lucky to have shared 18 years with her and everyone else who knew her will identify with that feeling.

"She made the world a better place with pretty much everything she said and everything she did."

He said having her taken away in such a "pointless and idiotic fashion fills us with an anger and resentment that does not represent who we want to be".

Mr Higginbottom added: "But we wrestle it under control and learn to be better at being people. Because that's what adults do."

"So if there's anyone else out there thinking of doing anything even half this stupid, just take one piece of advice. Grow up."

'Random attack'

David Graham from the Crown Prosecution Service said: "Mark Buckley went out that day equipped with a knife to carry out a violent assault.

"He spent a number of hours that morning looking for a lone female to attack."

He said: "We believe he selected his victim at random, and Ellen Higginbottom was simply walking through the park at the time he chose to attack, with tragic consequences."

Det Supt Howard Millington from Greater Manchester Police said: "Buckley callously killed Ellen in broad daylight.

"He attacked her in the most brutal way as she was walking around Orrell Water Park before going to meet her friends who were taking their exams."

Description

Two men who raped and sexually assaulted a woman in a "truly horrific attack" have been jailed.

William Kelly, 46, met the victim in a bar in Blackpool in April 2016 where he raped her.

Kelly then took the woman back to a hotel with Steven Williams, 49, who also raped and sexually assaulted her.

Williams, who denied all the charges, was jailed for 13 and a half years. Kelly, who pleaded guilty, was sentenced to 12 years.

Police said the victim had been at the bar when Kelly, of Beechfield Avenue, Blackpool, attacked her on 29 April 2016.

'Appalling ordeal'

CCTV footage showed Williams, of The Combs in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, had been present during the offences.

The pair took the woman to a hotel in South Shore where Williams then inflicted a second attack on her.

Kelly pleaded guilty to four offences of rape and one of sexual assault.

Williams pleaded not guilty to three counts of rape and two counts of sexual assault but he was convicted by jury after a trial at Preston Crown Court.

He was also sentenced to an additional six weeks for breaching a suspended sentence for driving offences.

Det Sgt Steve Harry, of Lancashire Constabulary, said: "This was a truly horrific sex attack where a young woman was targeted by Williams and Kelly before being subjected to an appalling ordeal."

He said the attack will "clearly have a long-lasting effect on her" and praised the victim's strength which has "ensured these predatory individuals have been jailed".

Description

A man who was jailed for trying to meet schoolgirl Kayleigh Haywood for sex in the days before she was raped and murdered will be freed after top judges reduce his sentence.

Bruce John Cordwell, of Raleigh Street in Nottingham, was locked up for 43 months at Chester Crown Court in February.

He admitted trying to arrange the commission of a child sexual act.

But his case reached London's Appeal Court today as he successfully challenged his sentence - which was cut to just 12 months.

Given automatic deductions, the court heard Cordwell has now "served his sentence" and is due for immediate release.

20-year-old Cordwell, sent 15-year-old Kayleigh a series of sexually explicit texts just days before she was raped and murdered by 29-year-old Stephen Beadman.

Her body was found dumped near a lake in Ibstock in Leicestershire.

The discovery came five days after Kayleigh, who was from Measham, was last seen getting off a bus near Ibstock Community College.

Beadman was last year handed a life sentence after he admitted the teenager's murder.

An accomplice, 28-year-old Luke Harlow who initially made contact with Kayleigh, was jailed for 12 years for grooming and falsely imprisoning her.

Description

Paul Mountain, 26, was sentenced to five years and three months at the conclusion of his trial at Chelmsford Crown Court A Great Baddow "menace" jailed for the rape of a 15-year-old girl and the sexual touching of a 14-year-old was on bail for grooming a vulnerable teen when he was arrested, a court heard. Paul Mountain, 26, was sentenced to five years and three months at the conclusion of his trial at Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday (February 27). Mountain, formerly of Park View Crescent, was arrested by Essex Police after raping a girl, on June 1, 2013 and sexually touching another girl on three occasions between July and September 2013. Neither victims can be named for legal reasons. Mountain was found guilty by a majority jury for rape, and unanimously on the three counts of touching, which the jury found to have a sexual element. Prosecutor Emma Nash spoke of the rape victim's particular vulnerabilities, and claimed that Mountain was well aware of them. The court heard that Mountain, who has ADHD and is on anti-depressants, was on bail for another sex crime at the time of his arrest and has only recently completed a custodial sentence for grooming and sexually abusing another 14-year-old girl. Defence counsel Jacqueline Carey said: "Mr Mountain is actually extremely vulnerable himself. He gets on better with young people than with people his own age. "He cuts a rather forlorn character. He hoped for a career in biking. There's a concern for his well-being in custody. He's not been placed on a sexual offences course or rehabilitated. "He's someone with not a positive outlook but he does have the support of his mum and step-dad." Sentencing Mountain for rape, Judge Emma Peters said: "You were a grownup and she was a child. As well as that, she was a vulnerable child. "It is clear you are in a category of low intelligence, and have a number of psychological problems. It is also clear you are a man with vulnerabilities, but at times you are manipulative when you want to get your own way. "You took her for a walk, you knew what you were doing. When you sat opposite her you produced a condom and said 'let's have sex'. "She didn't want to have sex, she told you she didn't want to do that. She is more damaged now than she was before she met you." Commenting on the sexual touching charges, Judge Peters added: "You came into contact through friends. At no point did she ever tell you she wanted more from you than to be a friend. "To find herself receiving unwanted attention would be very upsetting for her." A sexual harm prevention order was already in place against Mountain, who will remain on the sex offender's register for life. "You have been a menace to young girls, young girls whose innocence you have taken away. I very much hope that you will be rehabilitated so that when when you're released you can start to associate with women of an appropriate age," said Judge Peters. "If you keep coming back to young girls, it will come back to you. For the rest of your days you will have to register with the police. Young girls will be safe from you." Commenting on the fact the case took more than three years to reach trial, she said: "I make no criticism of Essex Police. But this particular team in this particular case took far too long. You should have come to court much earlier." Mountain was sentenced to four years and nine months for rape, and six months for each count of sexual touching, to run consecutively to each other, but concurrently to the rape sentence. He will serve 31 months in custody before being released on licence.

Description

A MAN from Doncaster who had sex with a 14 year old girl in the late 1980s and early 1990s has been placed under supervision for one year. Neil Bolton, of Norfolk Avenue, Bircotes, was also given 150 hours of unpaid work and was placed on the sex offenders register for one year when he appeared at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday. He previously pleaded guilty to using lewd, indecent and libidinous practises and behaviour towards the girl at a Lerwick address on various occasions or between 14 March 1989 and 13 March 1990, and repeatedly sexually penetrating her. Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie previously told Lerwick Sheriff Court that the complainer was 14 when she began a relationship with the man, who was aged 21-22 when the offences were committed, and is now 50. They were aware of each others ages, he said, adding that the relationship developed a sexual element. It ended a couple of months after the man was caught with the girl by his own mother, who expressed concern about the age difference. The offences came to light in 2015 when Bolton initially denied knowing her at all. At the court on Wednesday, defence agent Tommy Allan said a social work report prepared after his clients plea noted that there had been nearly 30 years since the offence. The solicitor said the report recommended that a period of supervision could be a suitable sentence. Sheriff Philip Mann said it was not an isolated incident as Bolton had a conviction for a similar offence committed not long after. But this was a consensual activity, so there was no element of coercion, he said. The sheriff said after taking into account the time since the incident and Boltons lack of offending since, he was persuaded that jail wasnt the only option.

Description

A man has been jailed for rape after his 19-year-old victim recorded herself pleading with her attacker to stop, and him later confessing to the crime, on her mobile phone.

Rhys Roser, 24, has been sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison for the 2015 attack.

Roser denied the charge when first arrested by police but then went on the run after hearing about the recording of the attack, and later pleaded guilty in court.

The attack took place in a flat in Maida Vale. The teenager managed to switch on her phones audio recorder when Roser first made unwanted advances, before she locked herself in a bathroom.

The recording proved that the victim, who was 19-years-old at the time, had told Roser to leave me alone, the prosecution said in court, the Daily Mirror reported.

After raping the teenager, Roser is heard saying on the recording: Youre not going to stand up in court and tell everyone you were raped, way too embarrassing.

Dont f****** tell anyone, its real simple.

According to Metro.co.uk, Recorder Matthew Lowe told Roser: You were heard saying that you had gone mad and were wrong in every way, and went on to plead with her not to report what happened and put pressure on her.

She describes it as emotional blackmail. What you did to her that night has had significant psychological and emotional effects.

Description

Jacob Adair, 21, of Kenyon's Lane South, Haydock, handed 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, after he admitted inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, downloading indecent images of children and extreme porn.

Jacob Adair from Haydock was caught after he asked a 15 year old girl to send him naked pictures.

A man who asked a schoolgirl to send him naked pictures was caught with extreme porn involving a corpse.

Jacob Adair twice urged a 15-year-old child to take photographs of her breasts to add to his sickening stash of images.

When police raided his Haydock home they discovered a depraved collection of child sex abuse and vile pornography.

But the 21-year-old walked free from court today after receiving a suspended sentence so he could still go to university.

Liverpool Crown Court heard police raided the home he shared with his parents in Kenyon’s Lane South on December 3, 2015.

They seized computer equipment containing the offensive images, which he admitted responsibility for downloading.

There were eight Category A – the most serious category – 11 Category B and 137 Category C indecent images of children.

This included three Category A videos and there were a further 20 prohibited and two extreme porn pictures.

Ian Criddle, prosecuting, said: “One involved sexual interference with a corpse and one involved serious injury to genitals.”

He said Adair had been talking to the schoolgirl when he was aged 19 and that she “felt uneasy about the requests”.

When interviewed by police, Adair accepted he knew she was only 15 and that he asked her to take the photos.

He admitted two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and three counts of downloading indecent images of children.

Adair, who has no previous convictions, also admitted possessing indecent images of children, prohibited images and extreme porn.

Paul Treble, defending, conceded the offences were serious but urged Judge David Aubrey, QC, to spare his client prison.

He said Adair had not lied to the girl - who he had developed feelings for - about his age.

Mr Treble said Adair was frank with police and now realised what he did when still a teenager was “very wrong”.

He said: “He at the time found himself in a very difficult position due to the death of his grandmother, which precipitated depression.

“It led to him becoming isolated, he started looking at the material, and one of the excitements, if I can put it that way, is that it was taboo.

“He is embarrassed and shocked now. He appreciates it was very, very wrong.”

Mr Treble said if Adair was spared jail, he would begin a university course in September, and the court would not see him again.

Judge Aubrey said Adair had been “obsessed” with his computer and looking at indecent images.

He said: “Each and every image represented the abuse of a child.

“You were perpetuating the abuse of that child because if there were not like minded people, there would not be such a market for like images.”

However, he said the offences were committed two years ago and Adair, who recognised his problems, had “considerable potential”.

He said: “This court has come to the conclusion that it’s possible to permit you to begin your university career.”

Judge Aubrey handed him 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, plus a sexual offenders treatment programme.He told him to sign on the Sex Offenders Register and comply with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years.

The judge said: “You now have to ensure the issues you undoubtedly had in 2015 either have been addressed or you will continue to address them.”

Description

A 26-year-old man who started a relationship with a 12-year-old girl online with the intention of sexually exploiting her has avoided jail.

Matthew Eglinton, of no fixed address but from the Surbiton area, was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, after pleading guilty to cause/incite a girl under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity with no penetration.

He will also be on the sex offenders register for ten years.

Eglinton met the victim in 2016 and, despite knowing her age, began a relationship with her on Facebook.

He urged her to meet him in his back garden and then in a local park. When they met, they would kiss and cuddle.

As the relationship developed, Eglinton would send her sexually explicit messages.

The girl’s parents found out about the relationship in late September of the same year after noticing she was leaving the house at the night and discovering communication between the pair.

They confronted Edlington and ordered him to stop seeing their daughter. Once the victim returned to school, she told a member of staff about the relationship who then called the police.

Officers went round to Eglinton's address but he had moved out.

However, he later handed himself in to the police station and was arrested and charged.

DC Huw Jones of Twickenham Police, who led the investigation, said: “Matthew Eglinton deliberately targeted a vulnerable girl for the purposes of his own sexual gratification.

“If his actions hadn't been discovered there is little doubt that he would have carried on with his efforts to exploit this child.”

Eglinton was sentenced at Kingston Crown Court on Friday, August 18.

Description

A disc jockey who subjected a man and woman with Down's syndrome to sex attacks in Moray has been jailed for five years.

Scott Sinclair, 41, who lived in Elgin at the time, was convicted by a jury.

Read More

Description

A man found guilty of a string of rapes, attempted rape and serious sexual assaults on three young girls has been jailed by for 13 years today by a judge who branded him 'thoroughly evil'.

Mark Raymond Hoddinott, 51, of Portland Place, Frome was found guilty of raping and attempting to rape a girl under the age of 13 and sexually assaulted a girl under 13, involving penetration, at Frome.

He was also found guilty of five counts of intentionally touching a girl under 13, and that touching was sexual, also at Frome.

The jury also found him guilty of being a person aged 18 or over and for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification, he intentionally caused a child under 13 to look at an image of a person engaging in sexual activity.

All the of the offences had taken place on various dates at Frome between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2011 and his youngest victim was under the age of six.

Sentencing him to a total of 13 years behind bars, Recorder Paul Garlick QC, sitting at Taunton Crown Court, told him the jury had found him guilty of the 'most serious sexual offences against highly vulnerable victims'.

He slammed Hoddinott for forcing his victims to come to court and give evidence against him, forcing them to relive their ordeals at his hands.

"I absolutely satisfied that your sexual abuse has had a serious and permanent effect on their lives from which they may never recover," he said.

"You have shown no remorse. You planned a long-running campaign of abuse against three victims."

Hoddinott was sentenced to 11 years for rape, four years for each charge of sexual assault, 18 months for gross indecency, 13 years for attempted rape, seven years for assault by penetration, five years for two counts of sexual assault against a child and two years for causing a child to look at sexual activity.

Recorder Garlick said the total of the sentences added up to 'decades' in jail and that each offence was 'individually heinous'.

"This was thoroughly evil conduct," he told him.

But he added that given Hoddinott's age and the fact that he would not be released on licence half-way through his sentence, the sentences would all run concurrently.

He was sentenced to 13 years in prison, and will be on the sex offender's register for life.

He was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order, and his victims were given a restraining order preventing him from contacting them.

Description

Convicted sex offender Manfredi was sentenced to two years in prison after he admitted he was intending to download child abuse images of young girls.

Manfredi, 30, who was staying at a hostel in Chelmsford, was sentenced on August 30 at Chelmsford Crown Court following three breaches of a sexual harm prevention order.

He had been previously convicted for downloading 665 indecent images of children in October, 2016 after police discovered Manfredi searched for websites containing pre-teen pornography.

Description

Glenn Michael Roberts, of Kinmel Avenue Abergele admitted three breaches of an order but avoided jail term A convicted paedophile who changed his name on a swingers dating website before forming a relationship with a single mum was handed a three-year community order. Glenn Michael Roberts, 31, was jailed for 12 months last year for downloading indecent images of children some of the most extreme category. He was released from prison last October. Roberts, of Kinmel Avenue, Abergele was today sentenced at Caernarfon Crown Court after admitting three breaches of the sex offenders act. Michael Whitty, prosecuting, said Roberts breached the act by using an alternative name without telling the police, by not stating that a child under 18 was in his company and not notifying the police of a change of address. Mr Whitty said after his release from prison, Roberts had formed a relationship with a woman on a dating site and they agreed to meet. They then spent time together at her house when her young child was there with Roberts being left alone with the child for 20 minutes while she had a shower. They also went for days out together. Mr Whitty said: On one occasion he spoke to his dad using a different name and she challenged him and contacted the police. Judge Huw Rees said: When you introduced yourself to your father as Glenn, you said it was a nickname. She didnt believe it. Sentencing Roberts, who is on the sex offenders register and also has a Sexual Harm Prevention Order until 2026, Judge Huw Rees said: Further work needs to be done to prevent you from having any contact with children. You are not supposed to have any contact at all. This sentence is designed to protect the public. You need to curb your tendencies. This is a three-year community order and a programme requirement. You are to attend also a sexual offenders programme with a rehabilitation requirement of 56 days. This is your last chance to get yourself sorted out. Days after his previous conviction, Roberts devastated partner told how shed lived a lie for 13 years after only discovering Roberts crimes two weeks before his court case.

Description

OFFICERS are appealing for help to find a convicted rapist. Robert Stevens, 62, has been recalled to prison breaching the agreements of his parole. Stevens, who also uses the surname Melias is known across Hampshire, Dorset, Avon, Somerset and Devon. He was convicted of rape in Shirehampton in 1998 and in 2011 was also convicted of a series of knifepoint commercial robberies at shops and bookmakers. He is described as a white man, about 5ft 6ins tall, with grey/brown hair. He also has tattoos a panther on his left arm and the names City on his left hand and Bob on his right hand. Officers said that Stevens is known for visiting betting shops, homeless charities and church-based support groups for the homeless, as well as travelling around via buses but often travels about on foot.

Description

A “DISGUSTING” Southampton courier who poses a risk to children has been jailed.

Graham Williams admitted 14 charges including possessing indecent images of children and distributing them.

The 30-year-old was described as being “in denial” of his sexual interest in children, despite having more than 100 images on all of his electronic devices.

He was jailed for four years and one month at Southampton Crown Court.

Prosecuting, Siobhan Linsley said Williams’ manager found the indecent images on his phone after the driver had been due to deliver a parcel to a 17-year-old female customer.

However after struggling to get the package to his customer, Williams, pictured, ended up sending numerous text and Whats App messages to her.

The girl contacted father-of-one Williams’ boss who was informed and arranged a meeting with him and asked to see his phone.

Miss Linsley said: “The manager asked to see Williams’ personal phone that the message had allegedly been on. But when he went on the phone he saw photographs of females, which were of an indecent nature.”

Williams was arrested but while on bail continued to offend.

The court heard that Williams had also contacted children under an alias.

Ms Linsley said: “His profile picture was of a teenage girl and he used an alias when using the sites. When asked who he is, he said a 14-year-old.

“He would ask the girls how old they were and regardless of whether they were under-16, he would ask if they were virgins.”

The court heard that Williams’ personal devices, all which were seized by police, contained 163 images - 73 category A.

Mitigating, Timothy Akers said the offences were “frankly disgusting” but the “number of images wasn’t especially high”.

Mr Akers added that since his offending, which began in 2015, his partner had left him and taken his two-month-old child with her.

In sentencing, Judge Gary Burrell QC said the defendant’s pleas that he was not attracted to children were “preposterous”. He said: “Clearly he has an interest in children sexually and in the probation report it states he struggles to accept what he has done. He is in denial.

“It’s hardly surprising no one is here for him. He’s committed these offences. He has to take what comes from it and often it’s isolation.

“In my judgement you are interested in children. What else can it mean but having one. You’re a risk to any community especially one if there are children around.”

Williams, of Millbrook Road West, was also ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for life and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order for life.