History > 2015 > UK > Justice (I)

Alan Cartwright murder:

teenager found guilty

Joshua Williams, 18, guilty of murder
and conspiracy to rob
after north London knife attack in February

Thursday 17 September 2015

18.08 BST

Last modified on Friday 18 September 2015

00.02 BST

Press Association

A teenager has been found guilty of stabbing 15-year-old Alan Cartwright to death as he tried to steal his bicycle.

Joshua Williams, 18, used a blade to attack Alan, as he rode along Caledonian Road, north London, with friends in February.

At the time of the attack, which was caught on CCTV, Williams had been on police bail on suspicion of possessing a 4in lock knife, although he was never charged.

The defendant claimed to have an alibi but, in a trial at the Old Bailey, he was convicted of murder and conspiracy to rob.

Alan, known as Little Al by his family, was killed close to the spot where 16-year-old Ben Kinsella was stabbed to death eight years ago, prompting a high profile anti-knife campaign led by his sister, the EastEnders actor Brooke Kinsella.

Following Thursday’s verdict, Alan’s family called for more police stop-and-searches and tougher, 10-year mandatory sentences to deter young people from carrying knives.

Alan Cartwright senior, 44, said: “It will make people think twice about carrying a knife.

Alan’s death was “another tragic example of the knife crime that blights our society”, prosecutor Jonathan Rees QC told the court.

On the evening of 27 February , Alan was cycling with five friends when Williams and two other youths intercepted them, the trial heard.

In just seven seconds, they stepped out in front of the cyclists and managed to take two bikes before the third robber approached Alan in the road and swung a knife at his chest, in a “deliberate and gratuitous” stabbing, Rees said.

Despite being mortally wounded, Alan managed to cycle on before collapsing a short distance up the road outside the Cally swimming pool.

He was pronounced dead a short time later despite the efforts of a first aider, police and paramedics.

On 4 March, Williams went to Islington police station with his parents to hand himself in, the prosecution said.

When asked why they were there, his mother told an officer it was about the incident in Caledonian Road, saying: “Yes, he’s involved, he did it.” As he was taken into custody, Williams, who lived off Holloway Road, north London, was heard by another officer to say: “It’s the right thing to do, isn’t it?”.
CCTV image of the attack on Alan, in front wearing a blue top riding his bike.

But in his defence, Williams claimed he was at a youth club that night and he only went to the police station to tell them that he was not involved in the incident.
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The court heard that the defendant, nicknamed Slimzy, was identified as the third robber in a comment about the CCTV footage that was released by police and posted on YouTube.

His parents and brother also gave evidence to back up his claims. However, the apparently religious family did not all swear on the bible in the witness box.

Rees told jurors that Williams’s alibi was in tatters and the evidence from his family was disappointing, because they had “decided to abandon their principles to support him in his lies to the court”.

He suggested the defendant carried a knife on the day of the robbery because he was the victim of an earlier knife attack by a group of youths, which Williams had said also happened in Caledonian Road three months before.

The prosecutor pointed out the CCTV showed the killer who wielded the knife was clearly left-handed – the same as Williams. Alan’s parents, Michelle and Alan senior, and his sister, Cherrie Ives, 21, attended court every day of the trial. They wept in court as the jury delivered its verdict.

The jury took three hours to reject Williams’s explanation. He will be sentenced alongside 18-year-old Shaquille Roberts and a 16-year-old, who have already pleaded guilty to the bicycle robbery.

So far this year there have been 10 knife-related murders in London.

In a statement read to the court, Michelle Cartwright told how news of his death came as an “unbelievable shock”, and she rushed to the scene eight months pregnant with her third child.

She said: “Life without Al is killing me as his mum. It’s also had devastating effect on his family. He loved his dad, Al senior. Al has not been able to go back to work since this happened.

“He says he cannot see a future without him. He was our loving boy – our only son.”

Outside court, DCI Chris Jones said: “I’m pleased with today’s verdict. I’m pleased the jury rejected Williams’s claims he was not responsible for his crime. I hope it reminds young people who may consider carrying a knife that they face some very real consequences.”

Williams will be sentenced on Friday at noon.

Alan Cartwright murder: teenager found guilty,
G,
17 September 2015,
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/sep/17/
alan-cartwright-teenager-joshua-williams-found-guilty

Seven members

of 'terrifyingly depraved

paedophile gang jailed

Friday 11 September 2015

15.00 BST

Last modified on Friday 11 September 2015

16.21 BST

The Guardian

Steven Morris

Judge tells men who abused babies and young children while hiding behind veil of respectability that their actions were ‘contrary to all humanity’

Seven members of a paedophile gang involved in the rape and abuse of babies and young children have been jailed for a total of 78 years.

The British gang – described as having “tentacles that go round the world” – streamed attacks on the internet which were seen on every continent. The men preyed on the families of the children they targeted, in one case grooming a mother and father before their baby was born.

Members would frequently travel long distances to carry out the attacks together, or would watch the abuse over the internet – sometimes using the dark web – if only one of them had access to a victim. Records of online conversations revealed that members of the gang, who lived across the UK, would offer advice and guidance to others on drugging their young victims.

The seven men, aged between 31 and 51 and including three convicted sex offenders, were brought to justice following an investigation led by the National Crime Agency (NCA). They were convicted of 29 child sex abuse offences, including conspiracy to rape and the multiple rape of a child aged under 13.

Passing sentence at Bristol crown court, Judge Julian Lambert said: “In the worst nightmare, from the very deepest recesses of the mind, at the darkest hour of the night, few can have imagined the terrifying depravity which you men admit.

“What you contemplated and what you did involved the most horrific abuse of a baby and very young children. Your thoughts and deeds are beyond human instinct and reason, and are evil beyond rational understanding.

“You men indulged yourselves in some of the most depraved and grossly deviant behaviour imaginable. The depth to which you sank is astounding and highly shocking to all decent people. What you did is contrary to all nature and humanity and you each appear to have a chilling tendency to centre the world on yourselves and your depraved desires without regard for the innocent and vulnerable.

“Your conduct is of deep concern to the public and people are outraged at what you have done. What you did provokes tears in many and makes others feel physically sick. You sought out the darkest materials on the internet and met in cyberspace to discuss your perverted sexual desires. You then planned the most shockingly sordid exploitation of the very young for sexual purposes. Targeting innocent children in that way is utterly abhorrent.”

The men jailed are John Denham, 50, from Wiltshire, Matthew Stansfield, 35, from Hampshire, Adam Toms, 33, from Somerset, Christopher Knight, 35, from Manchester, Robin Hollyson, 31, from Bedfordshire, David Harsley, 51, from Yorkshire, and Matthew Lisk, 33, from Sussex.

Hollyson was jailed for 24 years, Knight for 18 years, Toms for 12 years, Stansfield for 10 years, Denham for eight years, Lisk for four years and Harsley for two years.

Prosecuting, Robert Davies said he would not go into graphic detail in open court about the offences, nor the content of online chat logs, footage and images recovered because they were so disturbing.

A baby, aged between three and seven months at the time of the abuse, and two boys aged around four have been identified as victims but another 21 children have been the subject of safeguarding measures in relation to the investigation. Davies said the impact on the victims and their families was “profound and long-lasting”.

Hollyson – who was previously known as Robin Fallick – Stansfield and Harsley are convicted sex offenders while Denham, who changed his name from Benjamin Harrop, was once a youth football coach.

The gang hid behind a veil of respectability, with careers and families, to habitually target children under the age of five in Yorkshire and the south-east and south-west.

The NCA, which led the investigation, said the men met after discussing their sexual interests in young children on legitimate social media and adult sex sites. The gang was described as “incredibly skilled” at grooming victims’ families, even striking up relationships with pregnant women to abuse their babies.

Graham Gardner, deputy director of investigations at the NCA, said: “They don’t stand out as monsters, but they are monsters in disguise. This is serious organised crime at its worst. The men involved in this group actively targeted families to facilitate the sexual abuse of their children, toddlers and babies. The depravity of these men appeared to know no bounds and is without doubt as vile as we have seen.”

The NCA launched its investigation, codenamed Operation Voicer, last September after Toms contacted police and admitted he had abused a child. Their inquiries led to the unmasking of the ring operating across the UK, which had links to other paedophiles across the world. In the weeks that followed, the other six members were arrested and the further two victims were identified.

Police combed the suspects’ electronic communications and established that contact between them began on adult online sex forums, which are publicly accessible and legal to use. Investigators recovered Skype chat logs that recorded conversations between the men, which police described as disgusting and abhorrent.

The exchanges – which were never meant to have been discovered as the men went to great lengths to destroy their online activities – included references to “nep”, a term investigators had not come across before. It is a shortening of “nepiophile”,a person sexually attracted to babies and toddlers. There were also references to controlled drugs and over-the-counter medicines, with members of the ring openly discussing what dosages were needed to drug children of different ages.

Police said an “incredible” amount of planning went into gaining access to victims.

Ian Glover, senior investigating officer, said: “We’ve encountered grooming where the family have been groomed prior to birth of the baby. They go in that early with the sole intention of abusing that baby once it’s born.”

Extensive planning went into enabling the abuse to be screened over the internet to co-conspirators and other paedophiles around the world.

Members of the gang established a way to broadcast their activities without transferring files in a way that could be easily traced, instead using a video conferencing site to stream their abuse, the court heard.

Images of abuse relating to the case are believed to have been seen on every continent and police have circulated evidence about other suspected paedophiles to authorities in Europe, South America and Australia. There was no business element to the activities, with no evidence of any payment being received.

The family of one victim said: “We would like to thank police, the National Crime Agency and all the other law enforcement agencies involved for their support and handling of what has been a very traumatic and distressing experience for us. No family ever wants to find that their child has been the victim of abuse, nor would they ever knowingly put their child at risk. As a family we now need to mend – seeing the perpetrators being brought to justice is the first step.”

A spokesman for the NSPCC said: “Targeting children for sexual abuse before they are even born is completely and utterly beyond the pale. Revulsion isn’t strong enough to describe the feeling this gang’s crimes have evoked.

“When they are released from prison the authorities must ensure they never have the opportunity to pose a threat to any other child. And those babies, toddlers and families affected by this deeply disturbing abuse must get all the support they need to rebuild their lives.

“Fortunately this group of deviants has been caught. But it shows that there is still a long way to go for technology companies and social media networks who work with police to identify and prevent these crimes.”

The NCA said 26 people had been arrested so far in connection with the ongoing investigation. Of those, six were in positions of trust – three teachers, two charity or fundraiser workers and one who was employed by a local authority. More arrests and charges are expected in the UK and abroad.

Seven members of 'terrifyingly depraved paedophile gang jailed,
G, 11 September 2015,
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/sep/11/
seven-members-paedophile-gang-jailed

Stacey Hyde cleared of murder in retrial

Young woman whose original conviction
for killing man with a history of domestic violence
was quashed is acquitted in second trial

Thursday 21 May 2015

17.07 BST

Last modified on Thursday 21 May 2015

17.17 BST

The Guardian

 Sandra Laville

A young woman who faced a retrial for the murder of man with a history of domestic violence has been acquitted after a jury heard how she acted in self-defence.

Stacey Hyde, 22, was ordered to face a second trial by the director of public prosecutions, Alison Saunders, after the court of appeal quashed her original murder conviction last year.

The appeal court said the conviction was unsafe after new medical evidence showed Hyde had a mental disorder when she killed Vincent Francis.

Lawyers for Hyde, from Wells, Somerset, offered a guilty plea to manslaughter, but Saunders refused and ordered the 22-year-old to be retried for murder. A jury acquitted Hyde on Thursday at Winchester crown court following a three-week trial.

Justice for Women, which took up Hyde’s case following her conviction, questioned the public interest of putting her through a second trial. Due to Hyde’s mental state an intermediary was appointed by the court to sit in the dock to explain the proceedings to her.

Julia Hilliard, of Justice for Women, said: “This cannot possibly have been in the public interest: to put an already traumatised and mentally ill young woman through the experience of a second trial, and to spend a large amount of public money on this when the court of appeal quashed her conviction, she has already served five and a half years of a nine-year sentence, and has offered a guilty plea to manslaughter.”

Outside the court Hyde said on Thursday: “I would like to say thank you to Justice for Women, my legal team, friends and family for believing in me and giving me hope and strength to never give up. I will be forever grateful and blessed to have been given my life back.”

Francis, 33, also from Wells, had a history of violence towards women. It was acknowledged by the prosecution that there had been 27 separate incidents of domestic violence between him and his girlfriend, Holly Banwell, and that he had also been violent towards his previous girlfriend.

On the night he died, Francis had attacked Banwell at their flat while Hyde – who had been drinking – was sleeping. When Banwell screamed for her friend’s help, Hyde came to her aid and jumped on Francis’s back.

In the violent struggle that followed Francis grabbed Hyde around the throat and threw her around by her hair, smashing her into a wall at one point. Hyde told the latest trial she believed she had acted in self-defence.

“She was screaming for me to help her – I came in running and jumped on his back to pull him off her,” Hyde told the jury. “Next thing I remember is he is on top of me and he is strangling me – I remember him holding my neck down and the light fading.

“I was screaming – I know he was going to kill me, he is not stopping – no one was coming to help.”

When the police arrived, Hyde was extremely distressed and sobbing. She told officers: “He tried to kill me. I was so scared. I had to help Holly. He was going to kill her. I thought he would kill me. I stabbed him.”

In a recording of a 999 call, Banwell can be heard saying: “My boyfriend is beating my friend. I need the police ASAP. They are fighting.” Then she is heard screaming “Stacey has a knife and has stabbed him”.

Stephen Kamlish QC, defending, told the jury she had acted as a result of provocation, in self-defence and provided what he said was compelling new evidence that Hyde was suffering from an abnormality of the mind that substantially diminished her responsibility for the killing.

In a letter to the DPP before the retrial, lawyers for Hyde said she should be given the opportunity to plead guilty to manslaughter as there was no public interest in retrying her for murder.

“Ms Hyde was 17 at the time of the offence and is now recognised to be a very vulnerable young woman who has served over five years’ custody for the offence for which she was given a nine-year tariff. She continues to suffer from mental illness and is at risk of suicide and self harm,” said Harriet Wistrich, of Birnberg Peirce.

She said there was no evidence to suggest the killing was premeditated, adding: “It was clearly a spontaneous response to an act of violence by the victim and it occurred at a time when the defendant was undergoing a mental health crisis.” The DPP declined to accept the plea.

Amanda Joss, a family friend who has offered to house Hyde when she is released, said: “Yes she did it, she doesn’t deny that she killed him but she has served her time. She didn’t go out with the intention of killing someone, it was a frenzied attack, she was terrified, you can hear it on the 999 tape.
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“No one knows what they will do if they are being attacked, he was a big man who went to the gym every day. It’s not as if she emerged unscathed. She had marks around her neck, she had cuts to her body, he pulled out her hair.”

Hyde was convicted of murder at her first trial in 2010. She was sentenced to life with the recommendation she serve a minimum of nine years in prison. The judge took into account the violence initiated against her when he sentenced her.

A CPS spokesperson said: “Following a successful appeal by the defence against Stacey Hyde’s original conviction for murder, the court of appeal were invited, by the defence, to substitute the conviction for one of manslaughter.

“They declined to do so, stating that a life had been taken and ordered a retrial for murder. The evidence was reconsidered by CPS South West and a decision was made that under the code for crown prosecutors a prosecution for murder was still appropriate. The matter was once more tried before a jury who has acquitted Ms Hyde of the offence. We respect the jury’s decision in this case.”

Stacey Hyde cleared of murder in retrial,
G, 21 May 2015,
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/may/21/
stacey-hyde-cleared-murder-retrial-vincent-francis

Stepping Hill nurse Victorino Chua

guilty of murdering patients

Man faces life in jail for killing two patients
and harming others by contaminating treatments
with insulin at Stockport hospital

Monday 18 May 2015

14.47 BST

Last modified on Monday 18 May 2015

15.03 BST

The Guardian

Helen Pidd and Jamie Grierson

A nurse with a “malign intention to cause havoc” has been convicted of murdering and poisoning hospital patients.

Victorino Chua, 49, injected insulin into saline bags and ampoules while working on two wards at Stepping Hill hospital in Stockport, Greater Manchester, in June and July 2011.

These were then unwittingly used by other nurses on the ward, leading to a series of insulin overdoses.

After police were called in Chua allegedly “changed tack” by sabotaging prescription charts, doubling and trebling dosages – some with potentially lethal consequences – which led to his arrest in January 2012.

The Filipino father of two gave little reaction as he was found guilty at Manchester crown court of murdering Tracy Arden, 44, and Alfred Weaver, 83, who was known to his family as Derek.

Arden, who had multiple sclerosis, was admitted for a “mild” chest infection would have expected to “sail through this storm”. But she was pronounced dead eight hours after admission after being treated with a saline ampoule contaminated with insulin.
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Weaver was admitted with a chest infection and after being given a saline drip, he “appeared to be in agony, eyes rolling back in his head”. He died 10 days later.

Chua was also found guilty of 22 counts of attempted grievous bodily harm, one count of grievous bodily harm, seven attempts of administering poison and one count of administering poison. He will be sentenced on Tuesday.

Zubia Aslam, who survived her saline drip being contaminated, said: “Life has not been the same and never will be. This has turned my life upside down, but also that of my family and I still have questions about how this was allowed to happen in the first place. What measures have been taken to date and will be taken going forward to ensure that this never happens again?”

Prosecutors told the jury Chua had taken out his personal frustrations on patients “for reasons truly known only to himself” but drew attention to a self-penned letter found at Chua’s home after his arrest

Described as “the bitter nurse confession” by Chua, he said he was “an angel turned into an evil person” and “there’s a devil in me”. He also wrote of having things he would “take to the grave”.

In his closing speech, prosecutor Peter Wright QC said: “What may lead an otherwise caring, unassuming and conscientious nurse to act as we say he did is impossible to fathom.”

He was cleared of murdering Arnold Lancaster, 81, who was suffering from cancer, but convicted of attempting to cause him grievous bodily harm with intent by poisoning. He was also acquitted of one count of manslaughter and one count of attempting to administer poison.

Greater Manchester police has described the investigation that led to Chua’s arrest and conviction as one of the the biggest and most complex it has ever confronted.

Some 3,291 statements were obtained and 5,394 items were exhibited, while the prosecution file exceeds 30,000 pages.

Detectives also flew to Chua’s native Philippines, where they were able to establish that he left one hospital after being caught stealing. They also visited the now defunct Galang training college, where he claimed to have obtained his medical qualifications. As a result of investigations conducted, serious doubt has been cast relating to the authenticity of them.

DS Simon Barraclough, who led the inquiry, said: “Hidden in plain sight and using unsuspecting colleagues to carry out his sinister plan, Victorino Chua deliberately poisoned and murdered those who were under his care and those who were at their most vulnerable and most in need of help.

“He would then watch the fruits of his labour unfold, as absolute chaos ensued across the wards as colleagues fought to save patients whilst attempting to comprehend what was happening.”

Ann Barnes, the chief executive of Stockport NHS foundation trust, which runs Stepping Hill hospital, said: “Our storage of saline and management of prescription charts at the time of the incident was typical of those in other hospitals across the country.

“Whilst no hospital’s systems and processes can offer a complete guarantee against the actions of a determined criminal, additional measures are now in place which go beyond standard practice.”

She added: “Whilst Victorino Chua’s crimes are truly dreadful, we are sure patients will understand that they have no bearing at all upon our care.”

Stepping Hill nurse Victorino Chua guilty of murdering patients,
G, 18 MAY 2015,
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/may/18/
stepping-hill-nurse-victorino-chua-guilty-of-murdering-patients

Peterborough man jailed for 13 years

for child sex crimes

‘Predatory’ restaurant boss Mohammed Khubaib
convicted of forcing 14-year-old girl to perform sex act
and nine counts of trafficking for sexual exploitation

Friday 15 May 2015

13.46 BST

The Guardian

Press Association

Last modified on Friday 15 May 2015

14.23 BST

A restaurant boss has been jailed for 13 years after becoming the last of a string of men to be convicted of child sex crimes in Peterborough.

Businessman Mohammed Khubaib, 43, who is married with five children and originally from Pakistan, had a “persistent and almost predatory interest” in teenage girls, the Old Bailey heard.

He groomed vulnerable underage girls by giving them money, gifts or cigarettes before plying them with alcohol.

After a trial, he was found guilty of forcing a 14-year-old girl to perform a sex act on him and nine counts of trafficking for sexual exploitation, involving girls aged 12 to 15, between November 2010 and January 2013.

On Friday, Judge Peter Rook QC sentenced Khubaib to 13 years in jail for rape, extended for five years on licence. For each of the trafficking offences, he sentenced him to either four or two years, all to run concurrently. Rook also imposed a sexual harm prevention order and disqualified him from working with children for life, saying he clearly posed a danger to girls and young women.

Rook told Khubaib: “Your actions have had a profound effect on these young girls. Some have lost trust in people and ended self-confidence, self-esteem as a result of your conduct. You targeted these young girls because they were vulnerable and you were seeking opportunities for your own sexual gratification. You knew these girls wanted alcohol and transport. You knew they were young and immature and at their age they didn’t know any better.

“No doubt you felt you were untouchable as you took the view there was no risk these girls would ever give evidence about these activities.” He said in fact they had shown great courage in giving evidence.

Many of Khubaib’s victims were in court to see him sentenced at the Old Bailey. The judge said: “You showed no remorse, no acknowledgement whatsoever as to the effect of your predatory conduct. Society is now far more aware than it was in the past of the serious psychological harm that such behaviour as yours can cause.”

Earlier, the court heard how Khubaib still did not accept his guilt. But as a result of the case, his licences to run a restaurant and letting agency had been revoked by the council and both businesses subsequently failed.

Khubaib is the 10th man to be convicted under Operation Erle, a multi-agency investigation into child sex crimes in Peterborough launched after the Rotherham and Rochdale child abuse cases.

The court had heard that Khubaib’s activities in Peterborough involved girls being befriended and then “hooked” with alcohol, normally vodka, in an attempt to make them compliant to sexual advances. Khubaib, who lived in the city with his wife and children, would pursue his interest “away from his home and family”, using his restaurant as a “focal point”.
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Mark Dennis QC, prosecuting, said the girls were vulnerable because of their age, background, circumstances or unsettled schooling and Khubaib pretended to be their friend and helper. Khubaib, who also ran a lettings agency, would drive girls to flats and, once there, they would be groomed for sex by being “plied with alcohol and entertained by himself and his friends”.

He raped a 14-year-old girl in August 2007 by forcing her to perform oral sex on him after she was given alcohol and then “rewarded” with £5, the court heard.

The defendant would buy one girl and her friends McDonald’s meals and tobacco, as well as giving her small sums of money and a £40 bunch of flowers for her 15th birthday, the court heard. He told the girl he wanted her to be his wife, saying that he would “choose her over everyone else”, while he told another 15-year-old she had beautiful eyes, the jury was told. When she rebuffed him, saying he was too old for her, he was said to have replied: “Age doesn’t matter.”

Khubaib offered another girl £60, telling her: “You make me happy, I’ll give you money.” Two weeks later he increased the offer to £90, the court heard. The girl refused.

In January 2013, Khubaib picked up two girls– one aged 12 and the other aged 14 – in his car and took them to a McDonald’s, Dennis said. The girls became uncomfortable when Khubaib got into a row on his phone and slipped away. Later that month, he was arrested at a terraced house in Peterborough, where police found two girls aged 14.

Khubaib said in police interviews that his association with all the girls was innocent and he had not acted in an improper way, denying any sexual contact with his rape victim.

Four previous cases led to nine male defendants being jailed for 59 offences against 15 girls, who were mostly from Peterborough, with two from Lincolnshire and Rutland.

After Friday’s sentencing, Wendi Ogle-Welbourn, of Peterborough city council, said: “We are pleased with this sentence today as it represents justice for the girls and young women who suffered at the hands of this vicious criminal.

“As we did a month ago, when we got the original verdict, we would like to pay tribute to the girls and young women who so bravely took the witness stand and gave evidence. Their courage in reliving some absolutely horrendous experiences at the hands of this criminal has enabled us to get the result we did today and means that other girls and young women are safer in our city.”

D S Gary Ridgway, of Cambridgeshire police, said: “The sentence passed today shows just how serious this type of offence is and that, if we work together, agencies can achieve really good outcomes. Once again, this represents justice for young people who had the courage to stand up in court and relive some very difficult experiences. Without this, we could not have achieved this result.

“This is another example of how determined we are to tackle sexual exploitation of the vulnerable and will continue to work with social care agencies to identify those at risk and keep them safe from harm.”

Peterborough man jailed for 13 years for child sex crimes,
G, MAY 15, 2015,
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/may/15/
peterborough-mohammed-khubaib-jailed-13-years-child-sex-crimes

‘Dangerous predator’ rapist

jailed for more than 10 years

Clive Howard, 57, sentenced at Norwich crown court
for attacking at least six women over nearly 30 years
in Norfolk and Cambridge

Monday 20 April 2015

16.22 BST

Last modified

on Monday 20 April 2015 16.48 BST

Press Association

Guardian

A night-stalker rapist who attacked at least six women over nearly 30 years has been jailed for a minimum of 10 years and three months.

Clive Howard, 57, of Stowmarket, Suffolk, was described as a “dangerous predator” by Norfolk police after he admitted seven counts of rape, three of kidnap and one of attempted rape at an earlier hearing. The offences happened in Norfolk and Cambridge between 1986 and 2014.

Judge Stephen Holt described him as “every woman’s living nightmare” as he sentenced him at Norwich crown court on Monday.

Detectives revealed that over the past month 15 women who fear they might have been attacked by Howard have come forward.

Judge Holt added: “This was a campaign of sexual offences over many years. Two of the victims describe you spanking them – this is additional humiliation and degradation.

“There was clearly a significant degree of planning and targeting. All of the victims’ statements show a similar pattern of how terrified they were and the ongoing effect this has had.”

Mechanic Howard, of Bury Street, Stowmarket, Suffolk, sobbed uncontrollably as his final victim, Jessica Howard, now 23, read a powerful statement to the court. She described her struggles with anxiety, self-harm and an eating disorder since the attack in Norwich on 30 May last year.

Howard, who is no relation to the defendant, said: “Because of you, my body is now worthless to me. You took away my control and because of you my body is now an inanimate object with no worth. I wanted to throw up as I recounted what you did to me.”

Other victims gave similar accounts, with one saying she had attempted suicide.

Police eventually caught Howard after Jessica Howard described his Volvo car to them and they found CCTV footage from earlier that night showing him circling Norwich searching for lone women.

Further investigations and DNA evidence revealed he had attacked two women on 5 May 2013 and two on 15 February 2014. These attacks all happened in Cambridge.

It later emerged that he raped one woman six times in Suffolk, beginning in 1986.

The victim of those offences described how he spoke of attempting to rape a stranger, although police have not been able to prove this claim.

‘Dangerous predator’ rapist jailed for more than 10 years,
G, 20 APRIL 2015,
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/apr/20/
dangerous-predator-rapist-jailed-for-more-than-10-years

Boy of 13 given life sentence

for killing woman by stamping on her face

Petri Kurti given minimum of 12 years for knocking Glynis Bensley, 47, to the ground with Zoheb Majid and robbing her

Friday 17 April 2015
19.10 BST

Last modified
on Saturday 18 April 2015 00.18 BST

Martin Williams

The Guardian

A 13-year-old boy, who killed a woman by stamping on her face, has been given a life sentence.

Petri Kurti knocked Glynis Bensley, 47, to the ground, before robbing her and stamping on her face with such force that his footprint was left on her cheek.

She died later from a severe bleed in the brain, after the attack outside the Seven Stars pub in Smethwick, West Midlands, in September.

Kurti was given a minimum tariff of 12 years, but will have to serve another 11 years and four months before he can be considered for parole due to time spent in custody awaiting trial.

Kurti was ordered to be detained at her majesty’s pleasure – the equivalent of a minimum-term life sentence for a youth, by Judge John Warner at Wolverhampton crown court.

A second defendant, Zoheb Majid, 20, was jailed for 10 years for her manslaughter. The pair were also both found guilty of robbing Bensley of her money, phone, jewellery and cigarettes before leaving her in the street.

The boy reportedly handed himself in to the police several days after the attack, and Majid was arrested shortly afterwards.

At the end of the trial, the judge lifted reporting restrictions that meant the schoolboy could be named. However, his picture can still not be published.

Bensley’s sister, Dawn, said the murder had taken place just yards from where she had been born. “She didn’t deserve it – nobody deserves it,” she said. “They went out to do whatever. It was a needless act. They’ve still got their lives.

“It doesn’t matter how long they serve, they still get to go and see their family. Their families still get to see their sons. But we won’t get our sister back. It’s our family who are serving the life sentence.”

She said: “We are a very close and supportive family, and always look out for each other – to try and explain how Glynis’s murder has affected us is very hard to put into words. Glynis was my only sister and best friend – I would describe her as my right arm and I thought we would grow old together.”

Warner said the schoolboy had initially been boastful about the murder, but had later cried, saying he had not meant to do it.

The victim’s brother, John, said: “We couldn’t get over it, it didn’t sink in until the next morning. This is the kind of thing that always happens to other people.”

At the time of the pair’s conviction, DCI Sam Ridding said: “It was clearly the joint intention of the pair to use violence on anyone they targeted: they were in it together as the CCTV showed – they arrived within seconds of each other.

“Ms Bensley was tragically in the wrong place at the wrong time and was randomly picked out by the pair, believing that she was a man and that she was wearing a gold bracelet.”

A spokesman for West Midlands Crown Prosecution Service said on Friday: “These two defendants had targeted Ms Bensley because she was a vulnerable female who was walking home on her own at night.

“Our thoughts are today with the family and friends of Ms Bensley.”

Boy of 13 given life sentence for killing woman by stamping on her face,
G, 17 APRIL 2015,
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/apr/17/
boy-13-jailed-11-years-killing-woman-stamping-on-face

Robber who boasted on Facebook

jailed for four years

Andrew Hennells sentenced at Norwich crown court
after claiming he would be raiding a Tesco supermarket

Saturday 11 April 2015

00.40 BST

The Guardian

Press Association
 

A robber who boasted about plans for an armed robbery on Facebook has been jailed for four years.

Andrew Hennells posted a comment on the social networking site reading “Doing. Tesco. Over” at 7.25pm on 13 February.

Fifteen minutes later, Norfolk police were alerted by a member of the public to a man demanding cash at a branch of the store in King’s Lynn.

Sentencing him for armed robbery at Norwich crown court, judge Anthony Bate said Hennells posed a “high risk of serious harm to the public”.

The court heard armed police were deployed after the alarm was raised.

Hennells escaped after stealing a car belonging to a retired couple who had stopped to use a cashpoint, but officers tracked him down in a nearby pub. He was carrying a knife and £410 in stolen cash.

The 31-year-old, of Riverview Way, Gaywood, admitted robbery and carrying a knife at an earlier hearing. Another count of robbery relating to the carjacking was left to lie on file, Norfolk police said.

Sgt Pete Jessop, from King’s Lynn CID, said the Facebook confession made it easier to prove the case.

Robber who boasted on Facebook jailed for four years,
G, 11 APRIL 2015,
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/apr/11/
robber-who-boasted-on-facebook-jailed-for-four-years

Boy, 14, killed man with one punch

after giving him directions

Kyle Major, who could not previously be named, attacked Paul Walker, a father of two, in Blackpool shortly after wishing him a happy new year

Friday 10 April 2015

14.07 BST

Last modified

on Friday 10 April 2015 14.58 BST

The Guardian

Press Association

A 14-year-old boy killed a man with one punch to the head in an unprovoked attack after giving him directions on New Year’s Eve, a court has heard.

Kyle Major followed Paul Walker, 52, and felled him from behind shortly after wishing him a happy new year.

The father of two was thought to be unconscious before he hit the ground and died shortly after in hospital.

He was found face-down in the street in Blackpool, Lancashire, by a passerby in the early hours of New Year’s Day this year and his hands were still in his pockets when paramedics arrived.

The teenager, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter at a previous hearing, was ordered to be detained for three years at Preston crown court on Friday.

The recorder of Preston, Judge Anthony Russell QC, lifted reporting restrictions on naming the juvenile following an application from the Press Association, which said the public interest in identifying him outweighed the child’s welfare.

Walker, who was described by his family as “a lovely man with a big heart”, had lost his way after leaving a party thrown by his sister.

He came across a group of teenagers who told him where he was, including Major, who was heard to wish him a happy new year.

Moments later the defendant and a male friend followed Walker.

Major ran off after the attack and texted another friend, saying: “I’m scared. Don’t want to go to jail. Two/four years. Don’t say anything.”

He initially denied any involvement in the incident when he was arrested.

The court heard Major had consumed six bottles of Budweiser and a quarter of a bottle of Jack Daniel’s on the night.

He regularly drank to excess and was also a habitual user of cannabis, the court was told.

Major had seven previous convictions for non-violent offences, including burglary and theft.

He had been under the supervision of a youth offending team since December 2013 following various court orders, but his response was said to have been poor and he was described in reports as acting in “a reckless and carefree manner” with no regard for the consequences.

Major’s childhood was said to have been “out-of-control”. He was previously in foster care.

The judge told him: “Your upbringing was unfortunate. You have been allowed to run wild.

“This sort of unprovoked attack in the street is a regular feature of towns and cities in this country, regrettably. Unprovoked violence of this kind is completely unacceptable and will be punished.”

Walker’s estranged wife, Gina, his two sisters and one of his sons were among family members in the public gallery on Friday.

His sister Harriet, in whose home Walker celebrated the new year, said she had not only lost a brother but “her best friend”, in victim impact statements partly read by the prosecutor.

She said he “could not have been happier” as he left the party.

Harriet Walker added: “The boy who killed him needs to know what he has done, not only to us but the rest of us who have to live without Paul in their lives.”

DCI Pete Simm, of Lancashire Constabulary, said: “Kyle Major has today been sentenced for his reckless and violent actions which tragically cut Mr Walker’s life short and left devastating consequences for his family and friends.

“It took just one punch to kill Mr Walker and this case serves as a stark warning to others, showing just how much damage a single punch can cause.

“Thankfully, Mr Walker’s family have been spared the ordeal of having to sit through a trial and although nothing can compensate them for their loss, I hope that the conclusion of this case offers them some form of closure. My thoughts very much remain with them at this time.”

 Boy, 14, killed man with one punch after giving him directions,
G, APRIL 10, 2015,
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/apr/10/14-year-old-boy-killed-man-with-one-punch-after-giving-him-directions

Man jailed for four years for assault

on disabled pensioner Alan Barnes

Barnes, whose plight led wellwishers to raise £330,000
for him, says his attacker Richard Gatiss should use prison sentence to do some thinking

A drug addict whose attack on a disabled pensioner caused outrage around the world should use his four-year jail sentence to “do some thinking”, his victim has said.

Wellwishers who were moved by the plight of Alan Barnes, 67, raised £330,000 for him within days of Richard Gatiss’s cowardly assault, which will enable him to buy a house.

The 25-year-old pushed Barnes, who is 4ft 6in, over as he put out the bins, breaking his collar bone. He was desperate for money to buy so-called legal highs when he tried to mug him.

Gatiss, of Gateshead, did not visibly react when he was jailed at Newcastle crown court on Thursday, having previously admitted assault with intent to rob.

Barnes said he thought that four years was the right sentence.

“I hope while he’s in prison he’ll do some thinking and when he comes out he’ll do something useful, maybe he might decide to help people, which I think would be a good idea for him,” he said.

“It’s sad that he was brought to the stage of doing something like this, not necessarily just me, it could have been anybody, and they might not have got over the incident.”
Mugged pensioner tells of amazement at well-wishers’ £220,000 donations

In a letter read out in court, Gatisss’s father Karl said he was brought up to “help not to hurt people” and had been a kind-hearted boy who loved the outdoors. When he started to use drugs, however, “the likeable lad we had known slowly drifted away from us”.

Barnes’s collar bone has now mended and he is looking to buy a house in Low Fell, Gateshead, where he has lived all his life.

Nick Dry, prosecuting, told the court the new home was “something made possible by the overwhelming support and generosity of people in the local area and indeed around the world”.

“Although he is still wary of going out, he is positive about the future and over the worst of the injury,” he said.

Gatiss was caught from a DNA match on his victim’s jacket pocket.

Dry said he had failed to withdraw £10 from a cashpoint when he spotted Barnes outside his bungalow in a sheltered accommodation complex on the evening of 25 January.

Barnes said he was aware of a shape coming towards him in the darkness and heard a man demand money.

Gatiss pushed the top of his head, forcing him to the floor, and rummaged through his pockets, Dry said.

The broken collar bone the pensioner sustained in the incident stopped him being able to wash or feed himself for a period of time.

“These restrictions he found extremely frustrating, impacting as they did on his fierce independence,” Dry said.

After his arrest, Gatiss denied being involved, saying he had been brought up better than that, and then claimed a knifeman made him do it. When he was challenged, he confessed.

“He said he wanted money to buy legal highs to which he had become addicted, then breaking down, he was distressed at what he had done,” Dry said.

Jamie Adams, defending, said it was “an awful case” but publicity surrounding it made it difficult to “keep a proper outlook on what the sentence should be”.

Gatiss, the court heard, was appalled by his own behaviour, and his initial denials to police were due to his inability to accept what he had done.

Referring to his drug addiction, he told the interviewing detective: “I’m not a nasty person. It was bad but I’m sorting it out … You cannot just come off it like that or you will cut yourself.”

Adams said: “He is making reference to those awful drugs, so-called legal highs, he had become addicted to over the past years.”

Gatiss had recently been diagnosed with epilepsy and his medication when mixed with legal highs would have a “deleterious effect”, the barrister said.

When he finally accepted his responsibility for the mugging, Gatiss was remorseful, as acknowledged by the interviewing officer.

Even on the prison bus to court, Gatiss had been “the subject of some pretty awful double-standard behaviour” from other inmates, Adams said.

“Life is not easy for him. He is going to be in the public glare for a long time to come and he knows that. There is a lot for him to deal with,” he said.

Judge Paul Sloan QC, sentencing, told Gatiss: “I have no doubt he was picked on by you because of his vulnerability. It was on any view a despicable offence.”

The judge hoped the public support Barnes received had “gone a long way to restore his faith in human nature”.

The online fund was set up by local beautician Katie Cutler, 21, who initially hoped to raise £500, enough to buy new carpets or curtains. The appeal went viral and his family called a halt when the total reached £330,000.

Many donors also left messages expressing their disgust that such a vulnerable man could be attacked. Barnes’s disabilities were caused when his mother contracted German measles during pregnancy.

Outside court, Supt Richard Jackson said: “We welcome the sentencing of Richard Gatiss and this should send a message out to those criminals who think it is acceptable to target the vulnerable.

“It was down to the excellent work of detectives that we managed to forensically link Gatiss to the incident and ultimately bring him to justice.

“I’d like to thank the public for their help and support throughout the investigation and I hope that today’s proceedings bring some closure to Alan and his family.”

Man jailed for four years for assault on disabled pensioner Alan Barnes,
G, APRIL 2, 2015,
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/apr/02/man-jailed-four-years-assault-disabled-pensioner-alan-barnes

Man who murdered boy

in race attack in Devon jailed for life

Lee Dent, 42, to spend at least 22 years in prison for assaulting Alex Peguero Sosa, 17, in Devon last July

Friday 20 March 2015

18.17 GMT

The Guardian

A man who murdered a teenage boy by thrusting a bottle into his neck at a taxi rank in a race attack has been jailed for life and told he will spend at least 22 years in prison.

Alex Peguero Sosa, 17, who was of mixed race, was assaulted by Lee Dent, 42, in Devon, in the early hours of a morning last July, Plymouth crown court heard.

The jury was told that the attack happened after a friend of Dent’s referred to Alex’s hair as being an afro and Dent later told a friend “the fucking nigger deserved it”.

Dent, who has a secondhand-tyre business, was among a group that had been socialising in the market town of Kingsbridge while Alex, a former Plymouth Argyle youth football player, had been in the area with some of his friends.

Jailing Dent, of East Portlemouth, south Devon, Mr Justice Nigel Teare said the killing was a racially aggravated murder.

Outside court, DI Ian Ringrose, of Devon and Cornwall police, said: “This was a rare and horrific attack on a popular young man who was a promising football player with a very bright future ahead of him.

“This was an act of pure violence that resulted in a tragic and completely unnecessary loss of life. The court has recognised the racial factors in this murder and has rightly sentenced Dent to a significant term of imprisonment. This case should serve as a reminder to any individual who may commit such treacherous acts that we will not tolerate prejudice or hostility.”

Simon Laws, prosecuting, had told the jury that Alex and Dent had been squaring up to each other when Dent had picked up a bottle and smashed it into Alex’s neck. Laws said: “Out of the blue Dent swung his right hand to the left side of Alex’s neck. Alex backed off and held his hand to his injury.”

Laws went on: “It was an act of pure aggression from the defendant. It was a situation he could have walked away from at any point. Instead he chose to resort to violence of an extreme kind and a young life was wasted as a result.”

Man who murdered boy in race attack in Devon jailed for life, MARCH 20, 2015,
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/20/lee-dent-murdered-alex-peguero-sosa-race-attack-devon-jailed-life

Teenager jailed for 22 years

for plotting to copy Lee Rigby beheading

Friday 20 March 2015

11.53 GMT

Last modified

on Friday 20 March 2015 16.30 GMT

The Guardian

Brusthom Ziamani, who was arrested in east London carrying a 12in knife and hammer, told police he would hold the head up for a photograph

A teenager who was arrested on a London street carrying a knife and hammer in his bag and said he was en route to behead a soldier has been jailed for 22 years.

Brusthom Ziamani, 19, said he had been inspired by the killers of Fusilier Lee Rigby, calling one of Rigby’s killers “a legend”.

When police stopped Ziamani on an east London street in August last year he was seemingly on his way to carry out such an attack. Officers found a 12in knife and a hammer in his rucksack.

Passing sentence, the judge, Timothy Pontius, told Ziamani that his attack was foiled by “sheer good fortune” and he was convinced the teenager would have carried it out if he could.

He had been “adopted and totally absorbed by a twisted interpretation of the holy Qur’an”, the judge told him.

Ziamani, from Camberwell in south London, dressed in a black shirt and dark trousers and looking down repeatedly, gave no reaction as the sentence was passed. He will be eligible for release after just under 15 years, when he will be 34.

The court heard he had previously researched the location of army cadet bases in his home area. His trial heard how before the arrest Ziamani showed the weapons to an ex-girlfriend and said he planned to kill soldiers, telling her he thought Michael Adebolajo, one of the men who murdered Rigby, was “a legend”

Ziamani, born to Congolese parents, had abandoned their Jehovah’s Witness faith for Islam less than a year before, and was radicalised by members of the banned radical organisation al-Muhajiroun, the trial at the Old Bailey heard.

He was convicted last month of preparing an act of terrorism on or before 20 August last year.

The trial heard that Ziamani told a security officer he had been on his way to kill a British soldier at an army barracks when he had been arrested.

“He said that he was going to behead the soldier and hold that soldier’s head up in the air so that a friend could take a photograph with the severed head of the soldier,” Annabel Darlow QC, prosecuting, told the court.

Ziamani had said he first became interested in Islam aged 15 via rap music, and converted in the months before he was initially arrested in June last year, when police found a ripped-up letter in his jeans pocket in which he wrote about mounting an attack on a British soldier and expressed the desire to die a martyr. He was arrested for this and bailed.

After being asked to leave home by his parents, Ziamani linked up with militant members of al-Muhajiroun, who gave him clothes and a place to stay. He attended their talks and joined their demonstrations.

Ziamani’s Facebook posts charted rapid descent into extremism. He posted comments saying that he was “willing to die in the cause of Allah” and “Sharia law on its way on our streets. We will implement it, it’s part of our religion”.

Ahead of the sentence Annabel Darlow QC, prosecuting, said there were a number of aggravating factors to the case, notably Ziamani’s “settled plan” to decapitate a member of the armed forces or official and display the head, and that at the time of his arrest he had “both the capability and intent to cause death or serious injury”.

But defending the teenager, barrister Naeem Mian said Ziamani had experienced “classic grooming tactics” from al-Muhajiroun, who took in a homeless, destitute and unsophisticated young man, 18 at the time, and radicalised him.

The fact the group’s members “were able to groom and radicalise a young man in such a short time” indicated his vulnerability, Mian said.

Ziamani was now reconciled with his mother, who had visited him in prison, Main said, but faced very dim prospects: “His foolish, naive acts have resulted in him throwing his life away at this tender age. He has nothing to look forwards to now.”

No family were in court to see the sentencing.

During his trial Ziamani insisted he had merely been “ranting and raging about the situation in Muslim countries”, and that his Facebook posts were intended to please al-Muhajiroun as they had given him a place to stay.

While on bail following his first arrest, officials from the Home Office-led Prevent counter-extremism programme tried to arrange meetings with Ziamani three times, but he refused.

Teenager jailed for 22 years for plotting to copy Lee Rigby beheading,
MARCH 20, 2015, G,
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/20/brusthom-ziamani-jailed-plot-behead-soldier-lee-rigby

Mother who tortured and killed

eight-year-old daughter jailed for 13 years

Polly Chowdhury, 35, sentenced for manslaughter of her daughter Ayesha Ali alongside her ‘manipulative, wicked’ lover Kiki Muddar, who was jailed for 18 years

A mother who abused, tortured and killed her eight-year-old daughter while under the spell of her sadistic lover has been jailed for 13 years.

Polly Chowdhury, 35, and Kiki Muddar, 43, were convicted of the manslaughter of Chowdhury’s daughter, Ayesha Ali, whose body was found at their home in Chadwell Heath, east London, covered in more than 40 injuries, including a bite mark and carpet burns.

Their Old Bailey trial heard that Muddar created a fantasy world of alter egos on Facebook and text messages to seduce Chowdhury and turn her against her daughter because she saw her as a threat.

Jailing Mudder for 18 years, Judge Christopher Moss QC said she bore the lion’s share of responsibility for Ayesha’s death, describing her as a “manipulative, wicked woman”.
Ayesha Ali, 8.

He told Ayesha’s mother she had “disgracefully failed” in her fundamental position of trust to keep her daughter from harm.

The judge said Muddar deliberately “tore apart” Chowdhury’s family by constructing an “extraordinary web of deceit and lies” through her alter egos, Jimmy and Skyman.

In the months leading up to Ayesha’s death, she was subjected to a “life of cruelty and misery that defies belief” which in his view amounted to torture.

Moss paid tribute to the “courage and personal restraint” of Ayesha’s father, Afsar Ali, who as a witness had to learn the disturbing details of how his daughter died, as the case unfolded in court.

He also highlighted the painstaking police investigation which discovered a situation which “could only astonish and horrify” anyone listening to the trial.

While the judge said the evidence made it clear that Muddar was responsible for inflicting the fatal head injury to Ayesha, they had both taken part in the abuse, which involved terrorising Ayesha in the night by wearing “vile masks”.

The court heard how Muddar had brainwashed Chowdhury into believing that Ayesha was possessed and needed to be physically chastised. She told the solicitors’ admin worker that Ayesha was “evil” and had “bad blood”, and repeatedly encouraged her to discipline the child.

Muddar bombarded her with more than 40,000 texts, telling her: “You have no right to ever love or like your evil daughter.”

In a recorded phone conversation with a friend the month before the killing, Muddar described Ayesha as “pure evil” and a “witch” and threatened to drown her in the bath.

Days before the killing, the couple, who were both horror film fans, terrorised Ayesha in the night by taking it in turns to wear a scary mask. A neighbour heard the little girl screaming, sobbing and then pleading with her mother: “Amah, I don’t want to be bad, Amah, Amah, I don’t want to be bad.”

They also made her write a list of things she had done wrong, which included “huffing and puffing”, “telling lies” and “being rude”.

The abuse came to a head on 28 August 2013 when Ayesha was killed. Chowdhury told the court that Ayesha was hurt while Muddar was giving her a cold bath as punishment for wetting herself.

However, Muddar’s defence was that she spent the night at her parents’ house, although a pathologist said she could have died hours before.

During the course of the investigation, police uncovered Muddar’s web of deceit and lies when they recovered her recorded phone calls, text messages and Facebook messages.

Among her fake personas was Chowdhury’s cyber boyfriend, Jimmy, who she pretended she was channelling when the couple had sex, and a Muslim spirit guide, Skyman, which she used to prey on Muslim Chowdhury’s religious belief in ghosts and messages from beyond the grave.

Muddar, of Ilford, and Chowdhury, of Chadwell Heath, both denied murder, manslaughter and causing or allowing the death of a child between 1 March and 29 August 2013.

Mother who tortured and killed eight-year-old daughter jailed for 13 years,
G, 6 MAR. 2015,
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/06/mother-tortured-killed-daughter-ayesha-ali-jailed-for-13-years

Gary Glitter jailed for 16 years

for sexual assault of three schoolgirls

Former glam rock star, real name Paul Gadd, sentenced for six sex offences against three girls, aged between eight and 13, in 1970s and 80s

Friday 27 February 2015

12.18 GMT

The Guardian

Press Association

The former glam rock singer Gary Glitter faces the prospect of dying in jail after being sentenced to 16 years for sexually abusing three schoolgirls.

The 70-year-old, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was found guilty of one count of attempted rape, one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under 13, and four counts of indecent assault. All six offences were committed in the 1970s and 80s.

Glitter, dressed in a black velvet coat and burgundy scarf, showed no reaction as he was led from the dock after being sentenced at Southwark crown court in London on Friday.

There was standing room only in the court as loyal fans of the singer gathered in the public gallery to watch the sentencing.

Judge Alistair McCreath said: “I have read the victim impact statements of all three victims. It is clear, in their different ways, they were all profoundly affected by your abuse of them.

“You did all of them real and lasting damage and you did so for no other reason than to obtain sexual gratification for yourself of a wholly improper kind.”

He added: “The offences for which I must pass sentence today took place many years ago at a time when in particular, in respect of one of them, the maximum sentence was considerably lower than that which is now available.”

He said earlier that the guidelines dictated that he must take the current sentencing options into account.

Glitter, from Marylebone, central London, had denied the allegations against him.

He was cleared at trial of one count of plying a girl under 13 with alcohol in order to facilitate sexual intercourse, and two further counts of indecent assault.

Habitual sexual predator Glitter was jailed after being found guilty following a three week-long trial. He was at the height of his fame when he preyed on his vulnerable victims, who thought no one would believe their words over those of a celebrity.

He attacked two girls, aged 12 and 13, after inviting them backstage to his dressing room and isolating them from their mothers.

The 70-year-old’s youngest victim was younger than 10 years old when he crept into her bed and tried to rape her in 1975.
Gary Glitter Gary Glitter performing in 1975. Photograph: ITV/Rex Features

The allegations came to light only nearly 40 years later when Glitter became the first person to be arrested under Operation Yewtree, the investigation launched by the Met in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.

Sentencing Glitter, McCreath branded his abuse of a girl under 10 as “appalling”. He continued: “It is difficult to overstate the depravity of this dreadful behaviour.”

Referring to the second girl, whom he attacked after a nightclub performance, the judge added: “The 12-year-old victim came with her mother to one of your concerts. You invited them both to your hotel and created a situation in which her mother was taken out of your suite of rooms to another place, leaving you with this sexually inexperienced child.
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“All of this happened because and only because of your fame. You kept her in your room all night.”

He concluded: “I note that in 2011 you sought out professional help to understand your sexual attitudes and behaviour. I am in no position to decide what your true motivation was in seeking this treatment, whether it was to come to terms with your past and to change your attitudes and behaviour or it was to persuade the authorities to allow you to travel abroad.

“But one thing is certain and important in the context of this sentencing exercise. Whatever changes may have been effected in you by this treatment, they did not include any admission at all on your part of the wrong that you had done, in particular of the offences of which you now stand convicted.”

The judge reiterated that he found no evidence that Glitter had “atoned” for his offences.

Glitter suffered a spectacular fall from grace in 1999 when he admitted possessing 4,000 child abuse images and was jailed for four months in 1999.

In 2002 Glitter was expelled from Cambodia over unspecified allegations, and in March 2006 he was convicted of sexually abusing two girls, aged 10 and 11, in Vietnam.

Glitter was jailed for seven years for one count of attempted rape against his first victim, to run consecutively with an eight-year sentence for unlawful sex with a girl under 13 - the second girl.

He was given 12 months’ imprisonment for the attack on his 13-year-old victim. He was sentenced to an additional five years for the remaining three counts of indecent assault, to run concurrently.

Responding to the 16-year sentence, Mark Castle, chief executive of the charity Victim Support, praised the courage of the shamed singer’s victims. He said: “Glitter was convicted not because of forensic evidence or eyewitness accounts, but because jurors saw through his lies and believed his victims’ testimony.

“This prison sentence is testament to the courage Glitter’s victims showed in reporting their ordeal and bravely confronting this serial paedophile in court.”

Scotland Yard said it had received other information in light of Glitter’s conviction, which was “currently being assessed”.

Gary Glitter jailed for 16 years for sexual assault of three schoolgirls,
G, FEB. 27, 2015,
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/feb/27/
garry-glitter-jailed-for-16-years-for-sexual-assaults-on-three-schoolgirls