A serial sex offender has been jailed for over three years for sexually assaulting an infant girl after “luring” her into an enclosed space.

Kenneth Stephen Fowler, 64, a drifter and heavily convicted paedophile from Knaresborough, assaulted and then performed a lewd act in front of the youngster, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Richard Herrmann said that Fowler had over 100 previous criminal convictions, of which 18 were child-sex offences.

Fowler’s last such conviction was almost 30 years ago, but on August 6 this year, when heavily drunk, he lured the young girl into a public enclosed space, put his arms around her and began touching her “excessively”.

He then tried to remove her clothing before taking off his own clothes to reveal an intimate part of his body. He then performed a lewd act in front of her.

Mr Herrmann said:

“(The victim) said he didn’t say anything (and that) she felt scared and she froze.”

She then moved “very quickly” away from the enclosed area, after which an adult witness saw Fowler buckling up his trousers.

Fowler told the witness, in an “aggressive manner”, that he was “about to set fire to the place”.

Matters were ultimately reported to police who searched Fowler’s flat in Knaresborough and found among his clothes a pair of girl’s knickers.

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Homeless drifter

Fowler, a homeless drifter, was arrested and charged with indecent exposure, sexual assault of a child under 13 and sexual activity in the presence of a child.

He initially denied the offences but ultimately admitted the latter two charges. The Crown ultimately quashed the exposure charge.

He appeared for sentence via video link today after being remanded in custody.

Mr Herrmann said Fowler’s wicked behaviour had caused “great distress” to the girl and her family.

The girl’s mother said her daughter had since had nightmares about Fowler and her horrifying experience:

“She has been very quiet since it happened (and) doesn’t want to talk about it anymore.”

Fowler, originally from Scotland, had 104 previous convictions for 223 offences dating back over 50 years. Eighteen of those were sexual offences, including many for indecently exposing himself in front of children.

In the 1980s, he was jailed on multiple occasions for indecent exposure with intent to sexually assault a female, and another offence of unlawful intercourse with an under-age girl. In one incident in 1988, he exposed himself to a 13-year-old girl and performed a lewd act in front of two young boys.

His last exposure offence was in 1994 but he continued to regularly appear before the courts for offences such as shoplifting and being drunk and disorderly.

Set Harrogate charity store on fire

In October 2019, he received a 16-month jail sentence at York Crown Court for arson and damaging property.

That offence, described as a “revenge” attack, occurred in August 2018 when he torched a charity clothes store for the homeless at the Wesley Centre in Harrogate run by Harrogate Homeless Project, which had helped him get back on his feet after years of living rough.

Fowler, who was again drunk and had some kind of “grudge” against the charity, also smashed a window with a hammer, causing nearly £1,500 damage.

The charity relied completely on donations such as clothes and the damage had resulted in severe disruption to the organisation.

Defence barrister Brian Russell said that after a 30-year gap in his sexual offending, Fowler had “for an inexplicable reason…suddenly reverted to entrenched behaviour which he had managed to avoid for almost (three decades)”.

‘Unhealthy interest in young girls’

Judge Simon Hickey told Fowler:

“At the age of 64, you are still interfering with children…and were touching again an extremely young child.

“While heavily intoxicated, you were to lure this child into the public (enclosed space). She was scared; she froze.”

He said the child was clearly “in very great distress” and told Fowler:

“I find you a worrying and dangerous individual.

“This has changed the little girl’s life and she even…stuffs toys under her bed (for fear of) someone like yourself being under (there).”

The judge said Fowler clearly had an “unhealthy interest in young girls”.

Fowler was jailed for three years and four months. He was told he must serve two-thirds of that sentence behind bars and would only be released when the Parole Board deemed it safe to do so.

Due to the judge’s finding of dangerousness, Fowler was told he would have to serve an extended three years on prison licence once he was released from jail, for the protection of young girls.

A missing man from the Harrogate district has been found safe.

North Yorkshire Police issued an appeal this afternoon for information to find the man, who was last seen leaving his home on Tuesday this week.

But the force reported tonight that the man had been traced.

We have therefore updated this article and removed the man’s name and photo.

Some good news!

The 40 year old man from the Harrogate area has been found safe and well.

Thank you for your support with the appeal. pic.twitter.com/7YlsbsISE7

— North Yorkshire Police (@NYorksPolice) September 28, 2022

Read more

• Last chance to comment on proposed Harrogate Fire Station changes
• Councillors have ‘major concerns’ about plans to reduce Harrogate fire engines

North Yorkshire’s police, fire and crime commissioner has said she would still consider proposed changes to Harrogate’s fire crews “even if the service had millions of pounds in the bank”.

Commissioner Zoë Metcalfe is due to announce her decision on the plans to cut the number of night-time fire engines to just one on Thursday.

She has argued that the changes would allow Harrogate fire station to have two better-equipped fire engines during the day when emergencies are more likely to occur.

Commissioner Metcalfe has also said the proposals – which are part of a new risk and resource model – would allow for investment in fire prevention.

Asked at a council meeting last night whether she would still consider the plans if the fire service was better funded, commissioner Metcalfe said she “would still be doing this” and that she was “very assured” residents will be “kept safe”.

She said:

“We are always looking at different ways to get additional money into the fire service.

“We have this juxtaposition where North Yorkshire Police is what I would call well funded, but the fire service has just only got a balanced budget.

“As far as I am concerned about the risk and resource modelling, I would still be doing this even if we had a lot of money in the bank.”

Currently, Harrogate fire station has one fire engine which can respond to all emergencies and a smaller “tactical response” vehicle that both operate around the clock.

Under the proposals put forward by the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, the smaller vehicle would be replaced by a larger fire engine, but it would only be crewed during the day.

The plans have drawn criticism from North Yorkshire’s Fire Brigades Union which said the changes along with similar proposals for Scarborough and Huntington would leave the county with a “second-rate emergency response service that will put lives at risk”.

Commissioner Metcalfe has repeatedly insisted that the proposals have been based on “extensive” risk assessments which look at when and where emergencies are most likely to occur.

She also said the changes would allow for improvements in other areas including the fire service’s on-call model which means only five out of 38 fire stations are currently crewed 24 hours a day.

These are Acomb, Harrogate, Huntington, Scarborough and York fire stations.

Commissioner Metcalfe told last night’s meeting: “It is really important to realise that our community risk profile makes sure that we identify where the risks are and that the right amount of resources are in place.

“It is also absolutely right that we invest in prevention and protection, as well as our on-call model which desperately needs attention.”

A consultation into a no-dogs area in a Knaresborough park is set to end today.

Harrogate Borough Council trialled a fenced off area next to the entrance in Jacob Smith Park and asked dog walkers not to go into the space.

It comes after the council received complaints about dogs being let off leads and causing anxiety and injury to children playing in the park.

The 30 acres of parkland was bequeathed to the community of Knaresborough by Winifred Jacob Smith, following her death in 2003.

A public survey into the trial is set to end today.

The borough council said it will then consider a solution to the problem.

It said:

“Following discussions with the trustees of Jacob Smith Park, Friends of Jacob Smith Park, local councillors and users of the park, we have erected a small area of cut grass and temporary fencing to the left of the park entrance to create a dog free space for children to play, and people to have picnics, etc.

“We are asking dog walkers not to take dogs within the fenced area.

“The area is small, taking up less than three per cent of the park’s area so will not make an appreciable difference to the space available for dog walkers and others using the park.”

You can fill in the survey on the trial here. The consultation will close at the end of today.

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• Donor to fill Knaresborough man’s lorry with hundreds toys for Ukraine
• Jennyfields cafe enters liquidation

Firefighters and councillors have called on Zoe Metcalfe, the Conservative police, fire and crime commissioner for North Yorkshire, to tackle the long-running issue of Starbeck crossing holding up emergency vehicles.

As many as nine trains an hour can pass through Starbeck Station heading to Leeds or York.

It means when the barriers are down there are waits of several minutes for all vehicles, including fire engines, police cars and ambulances.

At a Harrogate Borough Council meeting last night, Liberal Democrat councillor for Hookstone, Pat Marsh, asked Ms Metcalfe if she’d had feedback from firefighters about the problem as she believes delays could potentially be costing lives.

Cllr Marsh said:

“It worries me, that a five minute wait can be the difference between doing something and not.”

In response, Ms Metcalfe said the problem has been raised to her by both firefighters at Harrogate and Knaresborough fire stations.

However, she said firefighters “know exactly what times trains come and go” and can also use other routes to avoid the crossing.

Ms Metcalfe said:

“I went back to the fire service and they quite rightly said that out of Knaresborough fire station you can also turn left out of the fire station and go into Harrogate via Morrisons. They can also go into Starbeck and can turn right into Bogs Lane.

“There’s not just one way into Harrogate. Even if they did get to a crossing they can call ahead (to Network Rail) to let them know they are coming down.”

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Her response didn’t please fellow Conservative and councillor for Old Bilton, Paul Haslam, who also chairs Transport for the North‘s scrutiny committee.

Cllr Haslam told Ms Metcalfe he was “a little disappointed that you weren’t upset about the crossing at Starbeck”, particularly as it’s an issue that was raised to her by the firefighters themselves.

He added:

“I’ve tried for five or six years to get Network Rail to improve technology that would reduce waiting time to two minutes but they’ve refused to do it at the moment.

“I feel if your firemen had been upset that could have been leverage. I’m concerned about it for lots of reasons. The cars are just idling.

“Network Rail have told me all the reasons they can’t do it but they’ve also told me what technology they need.”

Ms Metcalfe promised Cllr Haslam that she would raise the issue with Network Rail.

Train services between Harrogate and Leeds look set be affected by three days of strikes in the next two weeks.

Both the RMT union and Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen have announced industrial action this Saturday (October 1), Wednesday (October 5) and next Saturday (October 8).

Northern, which operates services between Harrogate and Knaresborough towards Leeds and York, has urged passengers not to travel on days when strike action is being held.

A statement from the company said:

“As a result of ASLEF and RMT strike action, Northern customers are advised not to travel on Saturday 1, Wednesday 5 or Saturday 8 October.

“Services are also expected to be affected on Sunday 2 and Sunday 9 October, especially in the morning, so please check before you travel.”

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• Northern’s new timetable includes early Harrogate to Leeds trains
• LNER warns of nine days of disruption to Harrogate trains

The strike action comes as rail passengers have also been warned to expect disruption on Harrogate’s LNER services from October 1.

Major engineering works in the Newcastle area by Network Rail will affect many services on the LNER route during this period.

The company operates six daily direct trains from Harrogate to London.

The disruption is set to last until October 9.

A truck driver who has been driving lorries full of aid to Ukraine since February said he has been overwhelmed by the response to his latest appeal.

Bob Frendt, 71, has just returned from his fifth trip to eastern Europe, delivering medical equipment to help Ukrainian nationals resisting the Russian invasion.

Before setting off, he revealed plans to take hundreds of toys to the country in November, to ensure children who had had a difficult year would have something to enjoy at Christmas.

As a result of his story appearing in the Stray Ferret, Mr Frendt was contacted by an individual – who asked for his identity not to be publicised – who donated £30,000 to fill the lorry with toys.

Mr Frendt said:

“I couldn’t believe it when he got in touch and said what he was going to do. That will fill the lorry and make a difference to so many children.”

He has been offered the use of a storage unit on York Road in Knaresborough, to enable him to collect everything he needs before his trip.

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On his most recent visit, Mr Frendt entered Ukraine for the first time, having previously only reached the Polish border to pass on vital equipment to aid teams.

With a lorry full of supplies donated by local firms Medequip and Andway, he visited a hospital inside the country. He said:

“The hospital is dreadful. I met the chief executive and the head of orthopaedics. When we lifted the back door up and saw what we’d brought, they just burst into tears.

“There were 45 mattresses and they said, ‘that’s 45 people who won’t be sleeping on the floor tonight’. We took zimmer frames and they said, ‘100 people can go to the toilet on their own, without having to wait for someone to help them get there’.

“Where we went, it’s like the London slums in the early 1900s. It’s dreadful. They haven’t got inside toilets, there’s a cold water tap at the end of the road and that’s it.

“This is without the Russians invading – it’s how they live normally.”

The contribution was so valued by Ukrainians, Mr Frendt was featured in a local newspaper while he was there.

Asked by the journalist why he kept returning to help, Mr Frendt said he couldn’t give an answer, other than to say he watched the situation unfold on the news and felt he had to do something. He added:

“It’s going to go on for years. I’ve got to do whatever I can.”

The hospital in Ukraine where Bob Frendt donated equipment

Although the anonymous donor has supplied enough toys to fill his lorry for the Christmas trip, Mr Frendt is still keen to hear from anyone who would like to support his efforts.

As well as more toys, he’s collecting old technology including laptops, tablets and mobile phones to deliver to Ukraine, and is always happy to receive financial support for the £2,500 cost of each six-day trip.

He has also been asked to deliver specialist haemostatic bandages used to treat serious wounds, which cost £40 each, and he hopes he can raise more money to pay for them.

Mr Frendt’s fundraising was boosted by the donation of a while from a Porsche which had raced at Le Mans. It was refurbished by AWR in Knaresborough and turned into a glass coffee table by Harrogate Glass Solutions.

He had planned to raffle off the unusual piece of furniture, but was made an offer he couldn’t refuse by a private collector, and the proceeds have gone towards his next Ukraine trip.

After his November visit, he plans to go again in the spring with a further lorry-load of aid, once the worst of the winter weather has eased.

To donate to Mr Frendt’s efforts, click here to send him an email.

Skipton and Ripon MP Julian Smith has described his own government’s decision to make swingeing tax cuts as “wrong”.

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced the biggest package of tax cuts in 50 years in his mini-budget yesterday.

He said the UK economy was entering a “new era” and the measures would stimulate growth.

Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said those with incomes in excess of £1 million will gain more than £40,000 a year each and that the overall measures didn’t include “even a semblance of an effort to make the public finance numbers add up”.

Mr Smith, who supported Rishi Sunak’s failed Conservative leadership bid, also expressed concerns on Twitter:

“In a statement with many positive enterprise measures this huge tax cut for the very rich at a time of national crisis and real fear and anxiety amongst low income workers and citizens is wrong.”

In a statement with many positive enterprise measures this huge tax cut for the very rich at a time of national crisis & real fear & anxiety amongst low income workers & citizens is wrong. https://t.co/EeRfAcNGzf

— Julian Smith MP (@JulianSmithUK) September 23, 2022

However, Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough who also supported Mr Sunak, welcomed this week’s government measures.

Writing on his Community News website yesterday, Mr Jones said:

“I am pleased with the extra support for households and businesses with fuel bills through the energy price guarantee and also today’s surprise announcement of the reduction in the basic rate of income tax down to 19 per cent.

“There are a huge number of measures, many focused on our productivity and investment which are the platforms for future growth. So, plenty to be positive about here in Harrogate and Knaresborough.”

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It feels like it creeps up on us earlier every year. Yes folks, it’s the most wonderful time of the year: it’s time to book your Santa visit.

Attractions across the Harrogate district have already started to release tickets.

And while Christmas might still be three months away, it’s advisable to act fast if you want to secure an audience with Mr Claus.

I’ve had the pleasure of taking my boys to meet him a few times over the years at various locations in the area.

Each experience has been excellent and we are definitely spoilt for choice. Santa is clearly a big fan of the Harrogate district.

To help you get organised, here are seven places to see Santa this year:

The Harrogate Father Christmas Experience – Cedar Court Hotel

It’s back and it has been hailed as “bigger and better than ever”.

Last year Father Christmas’s Chief Elf Tinsel, from Enchantica’s, delighted children and grown-ups alongside the big man himself at The Crown Hotel.

This Christmas you can join Santa, Tinsel and all of the Elves at a very magical Elf Village at the Cedar Court Hotel.

And those who are on the good elf list can book places to enjoy two shows this year:

• Elf Training Show – an immersive sing-along elf training experience for the whole family to enjoy.
  Or
• New for 2022 – Code Breakers Christmas show – for ages seven plus to adult – an escape room style family show wrapped up with magic, illusion and festive code breaking challenges to help save Christmas.

Tickets go on sale on Tuesday, September 27 and you can be among the first to get them by signing up to the mailing list here.

November 26 – December 24. Check here for show dates, times and availability.

Christmas at Mother Shipton’s, Knaresborough

Wander through the winter woodland to see the enchanted Christmas Village, festooned with festive delights and merry displays.

Chief Elf Chestnut will meet little visitors and lead them to see Santa Claus in his cosy Christmas grotto.

Children will be presented with a pack of festive activities and will also be able to listen to tales from Holly Berry, make reindeer food and post a letter to Santa at the North Pole Post Office.

November 26 – December 24. Click here to buy tickets. 

The Magical Christmas Experience – Birchfield Farm, Summerbridge

This hugely popular experience is making a welcome return following a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.

Meet Mother Christmas in her sitting room to check in and collect your sleigh ride tickets.

Then head to the sleigh pick up point to be greeted by Buddy the Elf, who will help you board Santa’s sleigh for your magical sleigh ride .

You will arrive at father’s Christmas woodland grotto where you can sit by the fire and tell him your Christmas wishes.

November 26 – December 23. Click here to buy tickets.

Police have arrested a wanted Harrogate man.

Officers issued an appeal for the whereabouts of a 30-year-old man, who was believed to be in either the Harrogate or Knaresborough area.

The force has since confirmed that he has been arrested in the Blackpool area on suspicion of offences connected to a serious assault.

Read more:

• ‘Winter wonderland’ plans to boost Harrogate this Christmas
• County council home care service in Starbeck ‘requires improvement’