Police fear up to 200 men in Telford child sex ring

Jailed – Ahdel Ali and Mubarek Ali

Up to 200 men from across the country may have been involved in a child sex ring working out of Telford – with a “huge percentage of them” still unidentified, police said today.

 

More than 100 girls were identified by officers in Operation Chalice as being targeted by the ring, although it is not known precisely how many were victims of sexual abuse.

Superintendent Nav Malik, police commander in Telford, today revealed the horrific scale of the child sex abuse.

Mr Malik said: “In terms of offenders, some victims were exploited by so many men – possibly as many as 200 were involved across a wide geographic area including the West Midlands and Yorkshire – that they were unable to identify a huge percentage of them due to their physical and mental state when the offences were committed.

“Sadly, it also proved impossible for us to match much of the DNA evidence we had with individuals that were known to us or were able to trace.

“Although we identified just over 100 girls who may have been targeted we cannot say definitively that they were all victims of sexual abuse.

“A significant number of these girls may simply have been witnesses and may not actually have fallen victim to the full grooming process.

“Many of the girls we identified did not want to engage with us while, sadly, others were unable to recall events in a way that meant we could proceed further with their cases with CPS.”

Seven men were eventually convicted after a second set of trials in which judges heard distressing evidence from four young women, who were aged 13 to 16 when they were abused between 2007 and 2009.

Details of the trials involving the men were revealed early this month when legal issues surrounding the reporting of the inquiry were resolved.

The leading players in the network of abusers – almost all of Pakistani origin – were brothers Ahdel and Mubarek Ali, from Regent Street, Wellington.

Both men, who variously sexually abused, raped, trafficked for prostitution and controlled child prostitution, involving four of the teenage victims, received lengthy statements after an eight-week trial.

Ahdel received a 26 year extended sentence and Mubarek was given a 22 year sentence.

After the conviction of the brothers, Detective Chief Inspector Alan Edwards from West Mercia Police, said: “It has been a very difficult journey. There is a massive sense of relief.

“When the judge talks about the fact the men have lied, not the girls – that sends a great message for the girls who have put up with so much.”

 

 

shropshire star

Report blasts failure to protect child-sex ring girls

Campaign of abuse . . . Shabir Ahmed is serving a 22-year sentence

 

ROCHDALE Council’s chief executive has apologised for the lack of leadership and responsibility that allowed an Oldham-led child-sex gang to groom and abuse young girls. 

Jim Taylor said uncomfortable lessons had been learned and children’s services overhauled — and warned other councils to tackle the issue to stop such “appalling crimes” taking place. 

“It would be pointless if Rochdale put in place the measures needed to tackle the issue but other areas did not. It’s everyone’s responsibility — local councils, the police, NHS, families and the wider public — to stop these terrible acts from taking place. 

“We must never forget that the sexual exploitation of children is an appalling crime carried out by the worst kind of criminals. 

His message followed an independent report, published today into Rochdale Council’s response to issues of child sexual exploitation. 

The report followed the conviction of Oldham-based ringleader Shabir Ahmed (60) and 26-year-old takeaway worker Kabeer Hassan jailed with seven other Asian men who passed around vulnerable white girls for sex in Rochdale between 2008-2010. 

The report, commissioned by Mr Taylor, involved interviews with past and present members of staff and an examination of the authority’s children’s services. 

It said former chief executive Roger Ellis didn’t investigate events that led to the exploitation cases because he was about to retire and thought it a job for the incoming chief, Mr Taylor. 

Rochdale Council was also blasted for failing to learn from sexual exploitation cases dating back to 1997, including one in Oldham in June 2007, which saw two people convicted for attacks on up to 20 victims. 

Mr Taylor said it was clear some children had been “let down” by Rochdale Council and said he was “deeply sorry” didn’t get the care and support they deserved. 

The review, he said, painted a poor picture of the way parts of the council had been run before he took charge last June. 

“Keeping children safe from harm is the most important thing a local authority does, and we accept the conclusions and recommendations in the report,” said Mr Taylor. 

“Hard-working, dedicated staff were also let down by some senior managers, who appear to have shown no leadership and have taken no responsibility. I am absolutely determined to ensure these mistakes are never repeated.” 

Within the report, Oldham Council is commended for retaining a specialist child sexual exploitation team even in times of austerity. 

Mr Taylor said he hoped lessons would be learned by his council in the future, and added that changes had already been made.

 

 

by HELEN KORN

Child sex offender register online

 

ONLY five people in Wigan used a scheme where they ask the police to check whether an individual who has access to children has committed any child sexual offences.

 

Greater Manchester Police confirmed that only 49 requests were made across the region, of which five where in Wigan, to use the Child Sex Offender Disclosure (CSOD) scheme last year.

The national scheme means that anyone can ask the police to check whether an individual who has access to children has committed any child sexual offences.

Lancashire Police say they have also seen a decline in the numbers of people applying for disclosure has reduced in the last 12 months and that they are encouraging anyone who has concerns whether people who have contact with their children are a possible risk to use the scheme.

They said that since April 2011 Lancashire has received 152 enquiries which have been classified under the child sex offender disclosure classification. This breaks down into 60 referrals in 2011, 70 in 2012 and 23 up to 30 April 2013.

Lancashire Constabulary’s Head of Public Protection Detective Superintendent Neil Esseen said: “This scheme provides members of the public with a formal way to check whether people who have contact with their children are a possible risk, and I would encourage anyone who has any concerns in this area to make use of it.

“The scheme helps parents, carers or guardians ensure that their children are safe, and also assists the police in managing known sex offenders living in the community more effectively.

“We already have a robust system to manage sexual and violent offenders through Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) and we work very closely with our partners in the prison and probation service to keep our children safe.”

For information visit: http://www.gov.uk/find-out-if-a-person-has-a-record-for-child-sexual-offences

 

Wigan today

Pensioner jailed for sharing indecent images of children

A pensioner has been jailed for six months after police found hundreds of indecent images of children on his computer.

 

Preston Crown Court heard Robert Parkinson, 65, shared the images with people he had met on the internet.

Parkinson, of Connaught Road, Preston, pleaded guilty to 18 counts of possessing, making and distributing indecent images of children.

He was arrested following a raid at his home in Broadgate on April 12 last year after officers learned he had uploaded indecent pictures of children onto an online storage device.

They seized his computer and analysis by a high tech crime unit revealed he had shared images on the internet.

The former video shop owner sent 232 images to four separate email accounts.

He attempted to send images to further accounts but failed due to a typing error.

During police interviews he admitted accessing and downloading the images and sending them via email.

Andrew Creswell, prosecuting, said: “He said he had no recollection of uploading the images on Microsoft Sky Drive because he had suffered a stroke some years beforehand.

“He denied being part of a club that shared images but accepted sending images to a person who had themselves sent him images.

“He said he had no wish to defend the images and did not want to attempt to justify in any form what he had done.

“He said it was due to stupidity and ignorance and something to do with ‘the forbidden fruit thing’, but denied gaining sexual gratification from it. He knew it was wrong and an immoral act.”

Parkinson, who the court heard is a secretary for two companies, has a previous conviction for 14 similar offences in August 2003.

Judge Michael Byrne sent him to prison and made him subject to a 10-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO).

Speaking after the case, Det Con Justin Singleton, from Preston CID, said: “Each indecent image of a young person on a computer identifies at least one child that has been abused. It doesn’t matter where this is in the world and we will continue to work with other authorities such as CEOP to protect vulnerable children.

“Protecting young people is a priority for us and we will ensure that those who view, possess and distribute indecent images of children are identified and brought to justice.”

 

Lep.co.uk

The British paedophile who’s still on the run

In the current issue of the Spectator, I write about Warwick Spinks, a convicted British paedophile who hid in plain sight in Prague for some 15 years. In 1997, having already been released early from a 7-year (later reduced to 5-year) prison sentence delivered in 1995, Spinks violated the terms of his probation and fled the country. It was not long before he wound up in Prague, ‘the Bangkok of Europe’, where a series of British newspapers reported he was running sex tourism packages for gay men operating under the alias of ‘Willem’ and posing as a Dutch national. It was in this guise that I became acquainted with ‘Willem’, at least by reputation, as a ubiquitous and rather dodgy member of Prague’s closely-knit expatriate gay community.

Spinks was arrested by Czech police in August. Two months later, once he had been extradited to the UK, news of his arrest made headlines. ‘Following extradition from the Czech Republic he will serve the 18 remaining months of his sentence’, the BBCreported.

So imagine my surprise on Monday when I received a message from a friend in Prague telling me that he had spotted Willem hanging around outside Temple, a notorious gay hustler bar. Then another friend told me that Willem had been in Prague since March. ‘Toucan Apartments’, the rental service he ran prior to his arrest, registered a Facebook page on April 12th of this year.

Upon hearing this news, I spent most of Wednesday ringing various British government agencies attempting to get an answer as to how a convicted, violent paedophile, who had previously violated the terms of his probation and was on the lam for 15 years, could have been released after having served less than half of his remaining sentence. Needless to say, I was not able to get a straight answer from any UK government official, and was repeatedly told that even the most basic information about Spinks’ case – like the date of his release or even which prison he had been held in – was unavailable to the public. The most that the UK Ministry of Justice would provide me with is the following statement, which I produce below in its entirety:

‘All sexual offences are abhorrent. Very tough sentences are available to the courts for those who commit the most serious offences including a new mandatory life sentence which we have introduced for anyone convicted of a second very serious sexual or violent crime.

‘We do not comment on individuals. Any convicted sex offender who breaches their licence conditions faces spending the duration of their sentence in prison.’

Before he was arrested, Willem was known for throwing a lavish birthday party for himself every July on a boat in Prague’s scenic Vltava River. A Prague friend predicts that, this summer, thanks to the inexplicable laxity of the British Justice system, Willem will entertain his ‘annual congregation of paedos’ there once again.

 

THe Spectator

Paedophile fails in attempt to have sentence reduced

A paedophile who was jailed for grooming teenage girls online and sending them indecent images has been told by top judges he cannot complain about his sentence.

Craig McGuire (38) showered the girls with compliments and gifts after posing as a teenage boy on a website, and even climbed up a drainpipe to spy on one youngster.

 

1. ​

   Craig McGuire lost an appeal against his sentence

McGuire, of The Coppice, Narborough, was given a six-year jail sentence at Birmingham Crown Court in September after admitting a string of charges.

He was also given an extra four years on his licence period, and was handed an indefinite sexual offences prevention order and ordered to keep the authorities informed of his whereabouts

McGuire challenged his sentence at London’s Criminal Appeal Court, arguing it was “over the top” for his crimes.

But his appeal was dismissed by three of the country’s most senior judges, who said his continued attempts to minimise his offending showed just what a danger he posed and meant the sentence was “justified”.

The court heard McGuire was first arrested in 2009 after his fingerprints were found on a drainpipe he had used to help him spy on a teenage girl as she undressed in her bedroom.

Despite being on bail for that, he continued to offend – forming online “relationships” with girls aged 14 and 15 after posing as a teenage boy.

He showered them with gifts and compliments and sent them indecent images he had downloaded from the internet.

McGuire also sent graphic and lewd suggestions about sexual activity in messages. In one case, about 4,000 messages had been exchanged between him and one of his victims.

A search of his computer equipment and mobile phone revealed he had stored images of girls aged 10 to 16 and had also saved the details of nearly 200 teenagers. He admitted charges of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming, causing a child to engage in sexual activity, voyeurism and making and possessing indecent images of children.

Challenging his sentence, McGuire said he was aggrieved at the lack of intervention by his lawyers when prosecuting lawyers read out the facts of the case to the crown court. He also insisted he had been on a website for over-18s, did not have a predilection for under-age girls and said there had been no physical contact between him and his victims.

Dismissing his appeal, Judge Clement Goldstone QC said there was nothing in his complaint about his lawyers and no arguable appeal against the level of his sentence.

Sitting with Lord Justice Elias and Mr Justice Openshaw, he said: “The evidence of his interest in under-age girls is overwhelming, and his denial of its existence indicates the danger that he poses.”

This is Leicestershire

Rape case GP convicted of child cruelty

A BOLTON GP has been found guilty of child cruelty during a trial at Manchester Crown Court.

A jury took three hours 45 minutes to unanimously decide Steven Hamilton’s guilt on one charge.

They are still considering three other counts of child cruelty, six counts of rape and a further three counts of sexual assault, all of which the doctor, who worked at Heaton Medical Centre, denies.

Earlier in the four-week trial, Hamilton, aged 45, of Gaskell Road, Altrincham, was found not guilty of administering a noxious substance to the child on the direction of the judge.

All the allegations relate to one child whom Hamilton is accused of raping over a two-and-a-half year period starting when she was aged just 11.

The jury heard allegations that Hamilton would strangle the girl until she passed out while abusing her, call her derogatory names and blame her for the abuse which was said to be taking place.

The court was told he controlled her, threatening to prove she was mentally ill and making up stories if she ever told anyone about the abuse. She contacted the police in 2011.

Hamilton claims the girl has imagined the alleged abuse and has made up her accusations.

Defence witnesses described the doctor, who has often been tearful during the trial, as a caring GP.

The case continues.

 

Boton News

Heathfield Community College paedophile teacher told police he was looking at them for ‘research’

 

A paedophile teacher found with 14,500 sick images of children told police he was looking at them for research purposes – so he could get them taken down from the Internet.

But science master Melvyn Carter, who taught at East Sussex County Council-run Heathfield Community College at the time of his arrest in August 2011, eventually admitted this was a lie.

He confessed he had been looking at such images for “several years”

while continuing to work as a teacher.

Carter has now been jailed for 15 months.

The 69-year-old left the school, in Cade Street, Heathfield, in November 2011, five months after he was initially arrested.

Pupils at the school yesterday spoke of their shock.

One former student,who asked not to be named, called Carter “sick”.

Another student added: “I can’t believe it.”

Heathfield head teacher Alan Powell said: “Melvyn Carter previously worked at the college as a cover supervisor and, before that, as a teacher.

“As soon as we were made aware of these allegations we took immediate action.

“He was dismissed from his post in November 2011 following an internal personnel investigation and we referred the case to the Independent Safeguarding Authority.

“None of the offences he was charged with in any way relate to the school or to any pupils from the school. Nor had any previous concerns of this nature been raised about him.”

A Sussex Police spokeswoman said: “Carter was a teacher at Heathfield Community School when he was arrested in August 2011 but he resigned shortly afterwards.

“There was no evidence of any link between the school and his offending, which was carried out on his home computer.”

At Lewes Crown Court Carter, of Malvern Way, Hastings, was also served with a ten-year sexual offence prevention order severely restricting his access to children and computers and will have to register as a sex offender on his release from prison.

 

By Anna Roberts

Nursery where staff watched child pornography to close

A nursery where two former members of staff were caught watching a video with indecent images of children is set to close at the end of the month.

The decision to close Monkey Puzzle Day Nursery in Islington on 31 May has been taken because the landlord of the building has gained planning permission to convert the property into flats.

The nursery is one of 28 settings run under the Monkey Puzzle Day Nurseries franchise.

The Monkey Puzzle Group has said that the closure of the setting is not related to the incident in March when two members of staff at the Islington setting were dismissed after they were caught watching a video with indecent images of children.

The setting was found to be inadequate during a subsequent inspection, which Ofsted said was brought forward as the result of conerns raised about suitability and safeguarding.

The two former members of staff have been granted bail until the end of month pending further inquiries.

Will Campbell, UK managing director of the Monkey Puzzle Group, said, ‘The decision to close the premises is entirely unrelated to the other recent incident at the site. It has been taken because we have been unable to secure the long-term position of the site with the landlord. We have given our parents one month’s notice in line with our terms and conditions.

‘We have been trying to negotiate a long-term lease with the landlord for three years which we have been unable to do. The landlord has informed us that he has planning permission to convert the building into flats.

‘We have contacted other nursery providers within the vicinity and have provided parents with the names of those providers with spaces available. Monkey Puzzle Day Nurseries have offered all affected staff alternative employment within the group.’

He added, ‘We regret the situation but we have been left with no alternative. We would like to thank all parents for their loyal support over the past three years and we have very much enjoyed being a part of the Islington community.’

In a letter sent to parents, Rebecca Crosby, operations manager for the Monkey Puzzle group, said that it is currently in advanced negotiations for a building in Highbury, which should open in September. She also says the nursery can offer temporary or permanent places at the West Kensington nursery.

In the Ofsted report, inspectors commented on the setting’s ineffective induction training, staff supervision and deployment of staff that the report says leaves practitioners unclear on their ‘roles and responsibilities in the setting, particularly with regards to safeguarding.’

It goes on to say that ‘some areas of the premises are not clean’ and ‘some children see their cups and plates being washed in the sink in the nappy changing areas.’

Parents have expressed their shock at the report, claiming that it is unfair to staff who provide excellent care.

Emma Jacobs, a parent whose child attends the nursery, said, ‘ I think the report is unfair to staff, who are really good at their jobs. Most parents would have been keen to keep the nursery open as their children are very happy there.’

by Katy Morton

Ms Jacobs, who enrolled her baby at the setting just four months ago, went on to criticise the way Monkey Puzzle’s head office has handled the situation.

‘We are frustrated by head office’s refusal to engage with parents or staff. Politeness and understanding of the impossible situation they have placed parents in, would have counted for a great deal of good will.

‘They enrolled children without making parents aware of the nursery’s possible closure. We are now looking at finding new childcare arrangements at short notice, taking time off work to settle children in. I know of people who have signed new rental leases due to the proximity of the nursery.’

Norwich child sex offender will not be re-sentenced

Gary Karn received a suspended sentence after being found guilty of three counts of sexual assault on a child under 13. Photo: HotSpot Media

 

A Norwich sexual offender who was given a suspended sentence for assaulting two young girls was not dealt with unduly leniently, the solicitor general has decided.

Gary Karn, 48, of Firwood Close, off Heartsease Lane, was given an 18-month suspended sentence for the sexual assaults on two girls aged seven and eight after being convicted at trial last month.

Judge Mark Lucraft said at the time he had to consider the “hardship” a prison sentence would cause for Karn’s wife and children, but the family of one of the victims accused the judge of being “too lenient”.

A spokesman for the attorney general’s office said yesterday: “Following a very careful review of this case the Solicitor General, Oliver Heald QC MP has decided not to refer the sentence of Gary Karn to the Court of Appeal, as he did not believe that the sentence for the offences would be increased by the Court of Appeal.”

 

Norwich Advertiser