Tag Archives: paedophile
Paige Chivers murder: Man guilty of killing missing Blackpool girl
A man has been found guilty of murdering missing Blackpool teenager Paige Chivers.
The body of the 15-year-old, who was reported missing in August 2007, has never been found.
Robert Ewing, 60, denied murder but was convicted of killing her by a jury at Preston Crown Court.
Co-defendant Gareth Dewhurst, 46, of Duncan Avenue, Bispham was cleared of a serious sexual offence but convicted of helping dispose of Paige’s body.
‘Inappropriate interest’
Ewing of Kincraig Place, Bispham, was also found guilty of perverting the course of justice by intimidating witnesses and laying false trails.
This included an anonymous phone call to police about a “problem child” he said had turned up on his doorstep.
Robert Ewing (left) murdered Paige and Gareth Dewhurst was found guilty of helping to dispose of her body
He had an “inappropriate sexual interest” in the teenager and took advantage of her chaotic upbringing, the court was told.
Vital days were lost in the search for Paige due to her age being wrongly logged by police as 45 instead of 15.
They did not investigate for 12 days as they had recorded her year of birth as 1962.
Her age was not corrected until 7 September 2007 when police started their inquiries into her disappearance.
Lancashire Police accepted the error and voluntarily referred itself to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
Paige was reported missing three days after leaving her home
Blood spots matching Paige’s DNA were found at the flat Ewing lived at the time, on All Hallows Road, Bispham, Blackpool.
Ewing claimed they came from a cut on Paige’s arm which he had treated.
However, no other blood was found at the flat and a piece of carpet had been removed from the flat shortly after the teenager’s disappearance.
Ewing claimed he replaced it because his cat had urinated on it.
Ewing also made entries in his diary which the prosecution said related to sexual acts with Paige.
‘Fun loving kid’
Paige was reported missing three days after leaving her home
After the verdicts were returned, her brother said in a statement: “Paige was a fun loving kid, she was bright and funny. She was only a child when our mum passed away in 2007. It was so hard on us all at the time and I would go as far as to say it broke us.”
He described Paige as “bonny” and “outgoing” and said they thought that she was “just out with mates” when she disappeared.
But “days turned into weeks, weeks into months and months into years.”
He added: “We used to go out in the car looking for Paige and sometimes do a ‘double take’ when we saw some girls and anyone similar to her. We would drive around the block and check again, raising our hopes only to be let down again, you never stop looking.
“I’m concerned that I will never know what her last words were, if she was in any pain or even if I will find out what actually went on the days she went missing.
“I hope and pray that the people responsible tell us where she is so we can lay her to rest. This will at least give us some closure and maybe stop any nightmares, images and worry about where she is.”
Vigilante with ‘loathing for sex offenders’ jailed for headbutting paedophile he had lured to town centre
A vigilante with “a loathing for sex offenders” headbutted a suspected paedophile after using a fictional 14-year-old girl to lure him into a trap.
Andrew O’Neill arrived in Wigan town centre expecting to meet the teenage school girl he had been grooming via an online dating website and go to a hotel with her.
But the girl did not exist and his increasingly sexualised comments to the teenager were in fact being answered by a vigilante group.
When he got to Market Place in Wigan he was met by a waiting gang who filmed the attack by one of them, Daniel Holding.
The video was then posted on Facebook with the tag “NWI Nonce Busters”, referring to the right-wing group, the North West Infidels.
Holding, who headbutted him, cracking two of his teeth, was today jailed for eight months.
Judge Mark Brown told 25-year-old Holding: “The state cannot permit individuals to take the law into their own hands whatever the motives might be. Vigilante behaviour such as this cannot be tolerated.
“This was not a situation in which you sought to detect a sex offender and just report him to the police. You met him the Wigan town centre and imposed retribution upon him when you head butted him causing serious injuries to his mouth.
“You may have a loathing for sex offenders but I am satisfied this gave you the opportunity to use violence for what you perceived to be justifiable reasons.
“You described your actions in the street as ‘paedo hunting’ and ‘nonce busting’.”
The judge pointed out that Holding has previous convictions for violence and has breached court orders.
Holding, of Bridge’s Street, Atherton, pleaded guilty to assaulting 25-year-old O’Neill, causing actual bodily harm.
Lianne Birkett, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that the area of the attack was busy at the time of the attack in April and two witnesses contacted the police.
Holding was also clearly visible in the video posted on Facebook and he was arrested the next day.
O’Neill, of no fixed abode, was jailed for 12 months for grooming by a judge last month.
Jailed: Army cadet sergeant groomed, exploited and raped 12-year-old girl who became “infatuated” with him
Shaun Jones, 19, of Haydn Road, West Derby, jailed for nine years for sex attacks on girl, 12,
A Merseyside army cadet sergeant who groomed, exploited and raped a vulnerable 12-year-old schoolgirl was today jailed for nine years.
Predator Shaun Jones manipulated and humiliated his child victim as he carried out a string of vile sex attacks when he was aged 17.
Jones, of Haydn Road, West Derby, was today locked up on his 19th birthday after admitting a raft of 20 sex offence charges.
Liverpool Crown Court heard how Jonesâs victim became âinfatuatedâ and âobsessedâ after he put her âunder his spellâ.
Judge David Aubrey, QC, said: âYou took away her innocence, you took away her childhood, you took away her virginity.
âYou sexually assaulted her in a variety of different ways over a period of time.
âI am quite satisfied that you were manipulating her and were doing so for your own sexual gratification.â
The court heard how Jones made the girl perform sex acts upon him, raped her, and indecently attacked the youngster in public.
He also demanded the girl send x-rated images and video of herself, and sent explicit ones in return.
The youngster told police that Jones had made her âfall in loveâ with him, even though she âdidnât want to beâ.
She told officers: âI knew it wasnât right. I knew I shouldnât be doing it but I became obsessed with him.â
The girl also said she blamed herself and believed what happened to her was her own fault.
But Judge Aubrey said: âShe was wrong about that. It wasnât her fault at all.
âIt was yours, in consequence of your grooming, your exploitation.
âThat observation by her illustrates the psychological harm and the scars you have left.
âShe was the victim, you were the perpetrator.â
The court heard that the girl was undergoing counselling and had become withdrawn, often locking herself in her bedroom.
Judge Aubrey said she had suffered âeverlasting and permanentâ damage.
Robert Wyn Jones, defending, said Jones was remorseful and had tried to take his life while on remand in prison.
He said his client had âexcelledâ while in the cadets.
Mr Wyn Jones said: âHe tells me there have been suicide attempts while at Altcourse, so to a degree he is a vulnerable young man.
âBut I canât press that too far because he initiated the relationship and persisted in it.
âHe has asked me to apologise on his behalf.â
Jones was also indefinitely banned from associating with children and changing his name under the terms of a sexual harm prevention order.
Jones was part of the Liverpool Scouse Nationalists, one of the various splinter groups. Thanks to the North West Infidels for bringing it to our attention.
Shotton man jailed for 17 years for historical sex offences against four children
Merfyn Jones has been convicted of 13 counts of rape and been placed on the sex offenders’ register for life
Defendant Merfyn Jones, of Shotton, was jailed for 17 years for a series of historic sex offences against children
The perverted past of a man â branded a sexual predator â caught up with him when he was jailed for 17 years for a campaign of sexual offences.
Merfyn Jones, 53, of Rowden Street in Shotton, was placed on the sex offenderâs register for life.
Jones had denied 13 offences of attempted rape, attempted rape and indecent assault against four complainants, when they were children, dating back to the 1990s.
But he was unanimously convicted by a jury at Mold Crown Court in December.
Judge Rhys Rowlands said that Jones continued to deny the offences and had shown no remorse at all.
âYou have no comprehension of the way in which you were meant to behave as a grown man towards young children, or the harm you have caused the victims,â the judge told him.
Jones, from Fllintshire, was a man of no convictions and had to be sentenced for his behaviour 20 years ago when he was in his 30s, he said.
Although there had been a significant delay, the other side of that was that he had managed to live a normal life for many years while the victims had to live with what he had done to them.
âYou took advantage of four young girls and you did so repeatedly,â Judge Rowlands told him.
Two of the victims had been raped.
âTotally understandably, your behaviour had an appalling and profound effect,â the judge said.
âThey continue to suffer to this day while you could not care less about the harm you have caused.
The only mitigation was that the offending ended in the 1990s and he had not been in any trouble since.
Judge Rowlands said that the victims were women now in their 20s and 30s but that Jones had taken away their childhoods â and thought he had got away with it.
âNow, I am afraid, you have to answer for your depraved behaviour as a younger man,â he said.
At the earlier hearing the judge said that on the verdicts of the jury, he fell to be sentenced as a sexual predator who had got away with for many years.
Jones was convicted of six charges of rape, one charge of attempted rape and six charges of indecent assault.
Prosecuting barrister John Philpotts said that victim impact statements showed the offences had not been reported at the time because the victims, as children, did not think they would be believed.
Some of them spoke of being unable to sleep, having nightmares, and still feeling the pain of what he had done.
One said that she felt angry and emotional and found it difficult to trust people.
Another told how her confidence and self-esteem had been affected and she suffered panic attacks.
Mr Philpotts described it as a sustained campaign of sexual offences with multiple victims which had caused severe psychological harm.
Paul Smith, defending, argued that the description of a campaign was not appropriate.
He said Jones appreciated that he was to receive a very significant sentence but he asked to judge to keep totality in mind.
Blackburn man admits raping 14-year-old girl near primary school
A MAN has admitted raping a teenage girl on playing fields near a school.
At Preston Crown Court yesterday, Michael McQueenie, of Highbury Place, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to rape and sexual assault.
He had been due to stand trial but accepted the charges against him.
Police said they hope the plea will allow the victim, who was 14 at the time of the attack, to start to rebuild her life.
The incident happened when McQueenie, who was wearing a fluorescent yellow jacket, lured the girl into a wooded area near St Jamesâ Primary School, in Oozebooth Terrace, on June 5.
He asked her remove her clothing and then subjected her to a serious sexual assault.
McQueenie, 28, was disturbed and ran off when the girlâs concerned father came looking for her.
Detectives launched a major inquiry and a dedicated team of officers carried out door-to-door inquiries in the area.
The youngster is being supported by specially-trained officers.
Det Chief Insp Dean Holden, from Lancashire Constabulary, said the girl was terrified by her ordeal.
He said: âI welcome the result, given the terrible ordeal that this vulnerable young girl suffered.
âI hope that McQueenieâs admission of guilt and his subsequent sentencing next year will bring some closure to the victim and her family so that they can start to get on with rebuilding their lives.â
Cllr Hussain Akhtar, who represents the Shear Brow ward, said: âOur community does not accept things like this.
âWhat he did is very bad and sad. Parents in the area have discussed with their children about strangers and they are now keeping an eye out.
âI hope this girl can put behind her what happened and that she can get on with her life. There should be a very strong punishment for people like McQueenie.â
McQueenie will be sentenced at Burnley Crown Court on Monday, January 26.
Dangerous Exeter child kidnapper and armed robber arrested after four months on the run
POLICE have confirmed that a dangerous armed robber and paedophile from Exeter was arrested this afternoon – four months after going on the run.
Officers cuffed Mark Sleman in the Smallfield area of Surrey.
A police spokesman said Sleman is currently in custody and would be returned to prison.
PC Mark Nagle who led the search for Sleman told the Echo recently that the net was widening in the search for him and officers believe he is no longer in the city.
Mark Sleman, also known as Archie, had once been convicted for kidnapping and trying to rape a 10-year-old child. He was released last year on licence as part of a seven-year sentence for robbing a homeless man at knifepoint and attempting to rob a garage shop supervisor in Exeter, again armed with a knife.
Despite being described by the judge as a âcold, callous psychopathâ and being diagnosed with a personality disorder, the English Defence League supporter was allowed out of prison early.
He subsequently fled his bail hostel in Exeter and until today’s arrest had spent nearly four months on the run.
In a recent interview PC Nagle said: “We are following up leads and putting all our efforts into catching him,” he said.
âMy message to the public who are concerned is that we are working very hard on bringing him back behind bars.”
On the run: Public warned not to approach âpsychopathâ paedophile believed to be in Exeter
A DANGEROUS armed robber who once kidnapped and tried to rape a 10-year-old child has gone on the run after fleeing his Exeter bail hostel.
Mark Sleman, a known member of the EDL, was released from jail under licence earlier this year as part of a seven-year sentence for robbing a homeless man at knifepoint and attempting to rob a garage shop supervisor in Exeter, again armed with a knife.
But the probation service has now withdrawn his licence as they are no longer able to supervise him and a police manhunt has been launched to get him back behind bars.
Police believe Sleman is still in the Exeter area and the public has been warned not to approach him but to call 999 immediately if they see him. A police spokesman said: âIt is very important to get him in because of the kind of guy he is. We believe he is still in Exeter and we have mainly been looking at areas and addresses he had links to and carrying out checks.
âWe are now asking for more information from the public. The more eyes looking for him the better.
âWe are very keen to try to get hold of him. My message to the public would be to not approach him as he is a violent man. If they see him in person they should call 999 immediately. If they have any information as to where he is they should call us on 101.â Sleman category of offending means he has spent nearly 20 of his 42 years locked up and when he was jailed at Exeter Crown Court in November 2008 the judge considered an âindefinite termâ which would have meant he could only be released if he could prove to the Home Secretary he was no longer a danger to the public.
He had been diagnosed as a âcold and callous psychopathâ and had robbed his own homeless friend at knifepoint when they were sleeping rough on land near Sandygate roundabout.
He then attempted to rob the Esso station at the Moto services on the M5 at Sowton and was only thwarted by a quick-thinking shop assistant.
He was also sentenced to another four months when he admitted the offences were a breach of a suspended sentence he had been given for failing to notify the Sex Offendersâ Register of a change of address.
The court also heard that Sleman had previously served a nine-year jail sentence for attempted rape, indecent assault and kidnap. That involved kidnapping a 10-year-old girl from a house, taking her to a caravan, sexually abusing her, threatening her, then returning her to her address.
He had also been jailed in 2003 for robbing the Winning Post service station, on Haldon Hill, near the city, at knifepoint.
PC Nagle added: âI cannot comment on any other previous convictions apart from the armed robbery he was on licence for. But when people start breaching their licence they often think what else can I get away with.
âWe donât want to worry the public but it is vital he is caught. There is an obvious fear he will offend again. We are not suggesting he will commit the same offences but it is clear he is a criminal who has a history of violent offending.
âHe needs to be recalled to prison. He has a substantial amount of his sentence left.â
PC Nagle said that in addition to fleeing the bail hostel he had got into arrears over paying his accommodation. He was released from prison on 1 May.
âHe was being monitored by probation service and they have revoked his licence as they were not able to supervise him anymore,â he added.
âIt is never good having someone like that out. We are doing everything we can to find him. And hopefully, with the publicâs help, it is not long before we do.â
Police say that Sleman also goes by the name Archie Sleman and Stuart Holmes. He is described as a white man, 5ft 11in tall (180cm), medium build, cropped ginger hair, blue eyes, with a 3in scar on his right cheek and a soft English accent. He has numerous tattoos on his arms, including a rose, the name Suggs, a cross and some dots.
As well as Exeter, Sleman is known to have visited Torbay, East Devon and Exmouth.
Anyone who knows the current whereabouts of Sleman or has seen him recently is asked to contact police on 101 quoting police reference DE/13/8408
Express & Echo
Airbus Broughton worker lost job over indecent images
AN AIRBUS security check on a workerâs computer revealed indecent images of children and sparked a police investigation.
When police probed the emails of Broughton factory employee Matthew Woodward they discovered he had received an email from someone claiming to be a 13-year-old girl looking to exchange ânaughty picturesâ.
Woodward, 22, formerly of Cable Street in Connahâs Quay, pleaded guilty at Mold Crown Court to 16 offences.
Judge Niclas Parry imposed a three-year community order and sent him on a sexual offending treatment programme.
Woodward must complete 120 hours of unpaid work and will remain on the Sex Offenders Register for five years.
He is also banned from working with children.
David Mainstone, prosecuting, said that in September 2011 Airbus did a check of the defendantâs computer and as a result his offending came to light.
Police then seized Woodwardâs personal laptop and further images of children were found.
Andrew Green, defending, said Woodwardâs life had âfallen apartâ because of what he had done.
The defendant had lost his job and moved to Derby, the court was told.
Child molester jailed after girl relives horror
A teenage sex-abuse victim endured years of “inner torture” after she was persuaded to drop her allegations against her attacker, a Court heard.
Self-confessed child molester Michael Coates got sympathy for himself by falsely claiming that he too had been a victim of sexual abuse and the girl was pressured into not proceeding with her allegations against him.
It was only three years later when Coates was finally charged with a series of sex offences, including two attempted rapes, that he admitted his own sex-abuse story was a pack of lies.
Today the 23-year-old Bradford man was beginning a six-year jail sentence for the repeated abuse which he accepted had developed from “experimenting” as a ten-year-old boy into a habit.
Coates, now of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to a total of eight charges of indecent assault and two of attempted rape in relation to the first girl and a further four offences of indecent assault in relation to a second.
During yesterday’s hearing at Bradford Crown Court Coates’ barrister Jonathan Rose handed Judge Roger Scott a copy of a suicide note his client had written.
In it he described himself as a child molester and offered his apologies to the two girls for what he had done.
Jailing Coates, Judge Scott told him that he regarded him as a danger to children and highlighted the fact he had told a series of dramatic lies for his own purposes.
“That poor girl must have had a very, very long period of inner torture…she attempted to kill herself as I understand it,” he said.
He said it was a further aggravating feature of the case that Coates had used bribery through sweets, money and cigarettes in exchange for sexual favours.
In addition to the jail sentence, Coates will also have to register with the police as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
Prosecutor John Hitchen told the court that the first girl had suffered flashbacks and nightmares after deciding to drop the proceedings in 1998, but she eventually challenged Coates about what he had done in the autumn of last year.
Coates was arrested in October and made admissions in relation to the allegations made by the two girls.
Mr Rose conceded that Coates’ offending had turned into a habit and he was unable to stop himself until he reached the age of 19 in 1997.
He pointed out that since then Coates had not committed any further offences of a sexual nature.
“This is a very young man about to start a sentence for offences against children and through the duration of that sentence he will have no one….it’s going to be a very lonely and a very difficult time,” said Mr Rose.
Far-Right Criminals 