Former Ripon military man jailed for soliciting sex with underage ‘girls’

A former military man has been jailed for nearly two years for soliciting sex with underage ‘girls’ and “prowling” the internet to chat with children.

Mark Crompton, 46, formerly of Ripon, was caught out after indulging in cocaine-fuelled chats with what he thought to be a like-minded individual who had a 10-year-old daughter, York Crown Court heard.

In fact, the ‘father’ was an undercover police officer patrolling the internet and he spoke to Crompton while posing as a dad with an unhealthy interest in children.

Prosecutor Paul Abrahams said Crompton joined the ‘Kids Chat’ website with the username ‘School Teacher’ and sent a message to the undercover officer. They then moved on to the secure KIK app to continue their debauched conversations where Compton used his real name. 

Mr Abrahams added:

“In that chat, the defendant requested images including those of sexual acts (by the ‘daughter’).”

Crompton, who was living in Whitcliffe Lane at the time, also asked the ‘father’ if he could meet his ‘daughter’ in Cambridgeshire, where the officer told him they lived.

Mr Abrahams said:

“(Crompton) talked about the sexual abuse of children and sent pictures of a child in a skirt to the undercover officer.”

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Acting on evidence gathered by the decoy, police raided Crompton’s home in Ripon in August 2019.

Crompton told them:

“It’s all other people as well – they have been sending me pictures. I didn’t know it was a crime.”

He told police he had lost his job and had been sleeping in a van, and that he had been “talking online because I have no one else to talk to”.

Officers seized electronic devices from Crompton’s home including a mobile phone on which police found 21 different chat logs with “numerous users” including those identifying as children, two of whom lived in the UK.

One of those was a 13-year-old girl but Mr Abrahams said the Crown couldn’t prove that she was a real child. 

The chats with this ‘girl’ occurred during a one-week period between June and July 2019, when Crompton asked to meet her after photos were exchanged and “talked about going away with her to Spain and having children with her”.

Mr Abrahams said Crompton’s plans involved “potentially raping her” as a girl of her age could not give consent in the eyes of the law, although there was no evidence to suggest he intended to meet her.

Police also found 35 indecent images of children on Crompton’s phone, as well as nine prohibited photos of minors.

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He had installed encrypted software on his mobile to download vile images of children between three and eight years of age. 

Crompton was arrested and brought in for questioning but told officers he never intended to meet any of the ‘children’ and put his behaviour down to “cocaine use”.

He was charged with two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, two counts of making indecent images and one count of possessing prohibited images of minors.

Crompton, who had since moved to Blackpool, admitted all charges and appeared for sentence on Friday.

Mr Abrahams said that Crompton had been involved in a network of online paedophiles who sent him pictures from chatrooms. He had three previous convictions for “unrelated matters”.

Defence barrister Joseph Hudson said Crompton had led a “decent life (and had) a good job until middle age” when “problems emerged”.

He added that Crompton, who was a full-time carer for his partner, had since been seeing a psychiatrist.

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, told Crompton: 

“You were skulking around the internet looking for communications with teenage girls (and wanting) to talk about sex.”

He said that although no actual arrangements were made to take one of the girls to Spain, Crompton thought “that person was real, and it was vivid sexual chat”.

He said although Crompton had led an otherwise “good and industrious life” and served his country in the army in his younger years, “you have brought complete shame (upon yourself) and you are responsible for your own downfall”.

The judge added:

“Everything has come crashing down and as a result of your behaviour you ended up in a psychiatric hospital for a short period… and I dare say it was the drink and possibly the drugs that loosened your inhibitions [on the internet].”

Crompton, of Lord Street, Fleetwood, will serve half of the 23-month jail sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence. 

He was also placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years and made subject to a six-year sexual-harm prevention order designed primarily to curb his internet activities. 

Ripon man jailed for 10 years for arranging to rape four-year-old girl

Warning: this article includes graphic details that may cause distress

A Ripon man received a 14-year sentence today after being convicted of nine child sex offences.

John Noble, 36, of North Street, was jailed for 10 years and sentenced to a further four years on licence at York Crown Court today after pleading guilty on May 1.

The offences included arranging to rape a child, sexual assault on a child, arranging to use a sex toy on a child, and arranging for a child to urinate in a glass for his own sexual gratification and consumption.

The court heard how Noble had engaged online between March and April 2021 and made arrangements to meet with the intention to rape a four-year-old girl.

He attended the pre-arranged meeting location in Ripon on April 30, where he was arrested by officers from North Yorkshire Police’s online abuse and exploitation team, which acted in collaboration with Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit.

During the investigation, there was never a real-life victim and no children were ever in any danger.

Noble was also charged with breaching conditions of his Sexual Harm Prevention Order by trying to arrange for the four-year-old girl and a baby to stay over at his home.

The order was issued by York Crown Court on September 19, 2019 for indecent images of children, inciting or causing children to perform sexual acts and sexual communication with a child offences.

‘Particularly distressing case’

Detective Sergeant Lee Allenby, of the online abuse and exploitation team, said:

“This was a particularly distressing case where Noble, a man who had already been caught by the police and put before the courts just a couple of years ago, had purchased items for a baby as well as sexual items to facilitate the abuse on the four-year-old girl.

“Noble simply could not resist acting on his sexual deviancy towards children. It is frightening to think that he was actively arranging to rape a child.

“It also showed the lengths of depravity that Noble would go to conduct child sex abuse.

“A long custodial sentence is a pleasing outcome in this case, and it sends a stark warning to other paedophiles who think they can operate with impunity online.”

Detective Inspector Marie Bulmer, from YHROCU, said:

“This forms part of our continued priority to protect children from sexual exploitation from those who seek to do them harm.

“Law enforcement operates across the internet, and we will relentlessly seek to bring to justice individuals who use the web to facilitate the abuse of children.

DI Bulmer urged victims of child sexual abuse to call 101 and report incidents. She added:

“We will always follow up allegations of abuse, no matter when they occurred. Victims can talk in confidence to experienced investigators and we can also help them get access to a range of other support services.”

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Ripon cocaine and heroin dealer jailed after police raid

A cocaine and heroin dealer has been jailed for over two years after police raided her home in Ripon.  

Jemima Walker, 27, was found surrounded by drug paraphernalia when police entered her ground-floor flat on Aismunderby Road.

They seized drug bags, two sets of weighing scales, a notebook with customer lists, £480 cash, four mobile phones and two relatively small amounts of heroin and cocaine.

Analysis of her “telephone traffic” showed she had been dealing for “quite some time” and had a “large client base”, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Anne Richardson said there were 118 incriminating text messages in total, in some of which her customers referred to her by her nickname, ‘Mima’.

Walker was charged with two counts of possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply following the drugs bust on May 16, 2019. She was also charged with one count of simple possession after being found with cocaine at an address in Gallows Hill Park, Ripon, in September of that year, while on bail for the dealing matters.

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She admitted all three offences and appeared for sentence on Friday.

Cocaine in Harrogate

The court heard that Walker had a previous conviction for drug possession from February last year after she was caught with cocaine in Harrogate.

Richard Reed, for Walker, said she was leading a “fairly chaotic” lifestyle at the time and ended up losing her home.

She had a drugs relapse and started dealing to pay debts to ‘county lines’ suppliers and feed her own habit, he added.

Recorder Abdul Iqbal QC described Walker’s drug enterprise as a “reasonably slick operation”.

He added:

“Text messages seem to suggest that it was a large client base.”

He said it was clear that Walker had used her flat to “package and process” hard drugs and that it had been going on “for some time”.

Although she was feeding her own habit, she had been profiting from “multiple supplies of Class A drugs…for a matter of months and significant amounts of money were being (made)”.

Walker had played an “operational or management” role in the supply chain, added Mr Iqbal.

Walker was jailed for two years and three months, of which she will serve half behind bars before being released on prison licence.

Police officer bitten after disturbance at Harrogate rail station

A man bit a police officer during a disturbance at Harrogate railway station that was so severe an armed response unit had to be sent out.

Thomas Spedding, 33, sunk his teeth into the officer’s arm after the victim, who was off duty, spotted what appeared to be a “family dispute”, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Charles Blatchford said the victim tried to break up the disturbance and told Spedding he was a police officer.

During the ensuing struggle on the station platform, the off-duty constable was bitten on the forearm which broke the skin, leaving an 8cm mark and bruising.

The train guard tried to intervene, but it needed armed-response officers to subdue Spedding, who had serious mental-health problems and a record for attacking police vehicles.

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The victim, who was named in court but we have chosen not to reveal his identity, was taken to Harrogate District Hospital for blood tests and precautionary vaccinations and had to be monitored for 24 weeks to ensure there was no infection.

Spedding, of no fixed abode, was arrested and charged with assaulting an emergency worker following the incident on March 1, 2019. 

26 offences to police vehicles

He was bailed pending further enquiries but four months later he was arrested again for 26 offences of damaging police vehicles, which resulted in a 10-month jail sentence in August 2019. 

Such was his mental state that after Spedding completed that sentence he remained in custody for the following two years while he received help for his mental health and psychiatrists assessed his fitness to face court proceedings on the assault charge. 

A trial of the facts had to be held in Spedding’s absence, which found that he did the act alleged and on Thursday he pleaded guilty to the offence after psychiatrists judged him fit to face the court following a vast improvement in his mental health during his time in prison.

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Mr Blatchford said the off-duty officer had just been on a course and was returning to Harrogate on the train when the disturbance occurred at the station. 

The court heard that Spedding’s two previous convictions for 26 offences all related to just two incidents of damaging property in June and July 2019.

Mental disorder

Timothy Jacobs, for Spedding, said his client had effectively been on custodial remand for two years and that his mental-health issues had “caused considerable concern in the past”.

He added:

“He is now responding to treatment and voluntarily co-operating with those who are trying to help him.”

Judge Simon Hickey said the off-duty officer would have felt “extreme concern” about the risk of infection following the bite to his arm.

He told Spedding: 

“Ordinarily, this would have been an immediate custodial sentence (but) you were labouring under a mental disorder at the time.

“You have served well over that sentence (already) and society is best served, and you are best served, by rehabilitation.”

Imposing a two-year community order, the judge said Spedding had made “great strides” in his rehabilitation while in prison.

The order includes a nine-month drug-rehabilitation programme and intervention by a community mental-health team.  

Harrogate ‘Walter Mitty’ character jailed for stealing thousands from 94-year-old father

A ‘Walter Mitty’ character who posed as an ex-SAS soldier and stole from his 94-year-old war veteran father has been jailed for eight months.

Edward Stewart, 53, from Harrogate, set up a fake online profile in 2016, masquerading as a former member of the elite special forces unit “to impress women”.

He claimed he had once been on SAS missions in Syria and Afghanistan and provided personal protection for Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, as well as Princess Diana and Hollywood star Brad Pitt.    

Following his bogus revelations, he was welcomed back into his family and moved in with his elderly father David Brunton, who trusted him to manage his finances and make purchases for him, York Crown Court heard.

But instead of looking after his ailing father, Stewart systematically rifled through his account after being handed his bank card. The elderly widower was now a “broken man” and in poor health, the court heard.

Prosecutor Matthew Collins said it was alleged that Stewart stole tens of thousands from his father after his family carried out their own internal investigation into the crimes.

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There had been numerous withdrawals from Mr Brunton’s bank account, allegedly over several years, and Stewart was arrested after the police were called in

He was charged with one count of fraud and three counts of theft but denied all allegations apart from one count of stealing £1,666 from his father during a four-week spree between June and July 2019.

He was due to face trial on the other allegations, but the family made a last-minute decision not to pursue these charges and they were allowed to lie on court file.    

Father served in Grenadier Guards

Stewart, of Robert Street, appeared for sentence on Wednesday on the single count of theft he had admitted but Mr Collins said this did not mean the family accepted he was innocent of the other alleged thefts. The remaining alleged stolen amounts would be pursued through the civil courts.

He said that Mr Brunton, who served in the Grenadier Guards during the war, had recently been ill in hospital and his condition had considerably worsened since his son’s wicked betrayal.

He said Stewart had used his father’s bank card to make payments and withdrawals from cash machines.

His sister Francesca Brunton launched her own investigation and Stewart admitted to his family that he had stolen the £1,666 in the summer of 2019. 

Mr Collins said:

“Repayment was arranged by direct debit at £50 per month.”

However, full repayment had still not been made and had now stopped.

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The rest of the alleged stolen cash – said to be “tens of thousands of pounds” – had also allegedly been withdrawn from cash points. 

Mr Collins said Stewart had been trusted to do errands such as shopping for his father, but he “abused that trust for his own personal gain” after being welcomed back into the family following his fake revelations about his ‘military career’ – lies that were later exploded after he was unmasked by the ex-soldiers’ internet group The Walter Mitty Hunters Club HQ, which exposes impostors and people with fake military pretensions.

Stewart, a former hotel worker, hit national headlines in 2016 after he was named and shamed by the Facebook group.

Claimed to protect Brad Pitt

His boastful fake posts included one in which he claimed to have suffered a wound from a knife attack while protecting Brad Pitt. He also said that he had stayed with Prince William and Kate to protect their son Prince George from a terrorist attack soon after he was born. 

He also said he knew Bear Grylls and talked about a burn on his chest from a ‘flash-bang’ injury during his 30 years of ‘military service’. 

He said he had been on missions to Syria and claimed he had been made to kill a young Iraqi goat herder who had pointed an AK47 at him.

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His father had been “shocked and shamed” by his son’s mock military profile and “the blackening of his name in the press”.

Despite this, he forgave his son and put his trust in him once again after Stewart made an apology in the press.

The subsequent betrayal, through the cash withdrawals, had an “extreme” effect on the decorated war hero.

Francesca Brunton, the victim’s daughter, said her father had suffered “mentally and physically” since Stewart’s “treachery”. 

Her ailing father had received daily calls from his bank and bailiffs had become involved after Stewart allegedly “falsified” a standing order on his account.   

This had had a “devastating” effect on her father’s “already fragile health”, which had “steeply declined” and he was now a “broken man”.

No contact with dad again

Abbi Whelan, for Stewart, said he had made attempts to repay the money and had lost his old job following his arrest. He had found new work as a delivery driver but would lose that job and his home if he were jailed.

Ms Whelan added:

“He is aware that he will never have any contact with his father again.”

Judge Simon Hickey labelled Stewart a “complete Walter Mitty character” who had taken his father’s money for his “own selfish ends”.

He told Stewart: 

“Your elderly and now frail father is, in contrast to you, a man of impeccable character.

“He’s one of the few remaining veterans from the Second World War…who, as such, should have been cherished by you and not defrauded in the way you had.

“You are a complete Walter Mitty character who (posed) as a SAS forces soldier, something your father would find abhorrent. It was against that background that you came to live with your family who remain devastated to this day.”

Stewart was jailed for eight months. 

Knaresborough stalker jailed for 14 months

A Knaresborough man who became so fixated on a woman that he broke a restraining order four times has been jailed by York Crown Court.

Michael Lonsdale, 37, sent his victim three WhatsApp messages on May 31 this year. York Crown Court heard that the messages were apologetic — Lonsdale told her he was sorry.

Prosecutor Kelly Sherif said despite their non-threatening content, they amounted to a persistent breach of a court order.

The court heard Lonsdale was first handed a restraining order in September 2020 after he assaulted his victim. Just a week later, he broke the order and was convicted of battery towards her.

A month later, in October 2020, Lonsdale was jailed for 24 weeks after he tried to strangle his victim, whilst high on cocaine and whisky.

His third breach of the restraining order occurred in January this year, for which Lonsdale was handed another prison sentence. This time he was sentenced to 32 weeks for stalking her.

The court heard that when he was questioned after his latest breach, Lonsdale told police that he harboured sexual fantasies involving ‘swinging’ with his victim and that he could be violent towards her again, if under the influence of drugs.

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In a statement, Lonsdale’s victim, who we have chosen not to name said:

“When he strangled me…I feared for my life. He can change into an unpredictable person. When Michael is out of prison, I will not go out alone. I feel like this is never going to end.”

Defending Lonsdale, Harry Crowson told the court that the three WhatsApp messages did not represent a serious breach of the restraining order.

‘Immense impact’

Mr Crowson said his client was in prison because of the latest breach and that he was making an effort to move forward. Lonsdale volunteers as a ‘care buddy’, which involves helping other prisoners who have physical difficulties.

He has lost his job as a video editor and hopes to retrain in physical therapy once he is released.

Jailing Lonsdale for 14 months, Judge John Iqbal told him:

“You tried to strangle her. Since then she has never felt safe. She fears you will relapse into that behaviour again. When you are not in a custodial setting, she restricts her behaviour.

“The messages in themselves were not threatening. But the impact of them on her has been immense’.

Ripon man jailed for downloading 1,000 indecent images of children

A married former military man addicted to child pornography has been jailed for downloading more than 1,000 indecent images of minors and using ‘wiping’ software in a bid to hide them.

Francis Mingay, 65, from Ripon, was under a court order at the time designed to curb his internet activities following previous convictions for similar behaviour, York Crown Court heard.

But the ex-army man – who served in Ireland and overseas during a distinguished career – downloaded 1,074 illicit photos and videos, some involving the serious sexual abuse of children and one depicting the rape of a young girl, said prosecutor Thomas Parsons. 

Mingay, of Southgate Avenue, admitted three counts of making indecent images of children, two breaches of a sexual-harm prevention order (SHPO) and one count of possessing indecent images. He appeared for sentence on Thursday.

The original sexual-harm order was imposed in 2011 after Mingay was convicted of 10 offences including eight counts of possessing indecent images.

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The order prohibited him from deleting his internet search history, using ‘wiping’ software or obtaining any new internet-enabled devices without informing the police. 

He was also banned from visiting any internet forums or chatrooms that might give him access to illegal images of minors.

In June 2019, two police officers who were monitoring him post-sentence made a routine visit to his home to inspect his devices and found he had been using a new Samsung phone. 

They also found a memory stick and a laptop with wiping software for deleting files and search history.

Both devices contained debauched images of children, as well as “extreme” pornography and “prohibited” photos and videos of youngsters.

Mr Parsons said the children depicted in the images on the laptop were between six and 12 years old. The worst images, rated Category A, included one which showed a girl of about 10 years of age being raped.

Mingay had downloaded 103 Category A images, 87 Category B and 884 Category C. He also admitted possessing a further 99 indecent images on the USB memory stick.

He already had three convictions for 27 offences, all of a similar nature. In 2003, he was given a three-year community order at Harrogate Magistrates’ Court for a “large number” of downloading and possession offences and ordered to attend various rehabilitation courses to “cure him of this perverted addiction”.

But it had little effect and in November 2011, Mingay was convicted of eight counts of possessing indecent images of children, for which he received a 12-month suspended prison sentence and a SHPO to regulate his internet use.

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Michele Turner, for Mingay, said the ex-military man had lost his way since the end of his “very successful” army career and had developed mental health problems due to “horrific” combat stress.

She said Mingay “didn’t understand” his addiction to child pornography “and his family doesn’t understand”.

Recorder Anthony Hawks told Mingay:

 “You are a man with a long-standing addiction to child pornography.

“Persistent, perverted interest of this sort creates a market for (this) sort of images. It’s a bad state of affairs in any view.”

Jailing Mingay for 16 months, Mr Hawks told him: 

“You have been given chances twice in the past by the courts and you have received enormous assistance from the Probation Service to try and prevent you offending in this way. It’s all failed.”

Mingay will remain on the sex-offenders’ register and his licence conditions upon his eventual release from prison will include strict curbs on his internet use.  

Harrogate man spared jail after hammer attack over barking dog

An argument over a barking dog led to a man being hit over the head with a claw hammer in a street in Harrogate.

The victim was attacked near Harrogate town centre by 31-year-old Maciej Rataj who struck two or three blows with the DIY tool, York Crown Court heard.

The victim fell to the ground and was stamped on by Rataj, who had crept up on him from behind. 

Prosecutor Andrew Finlay said witnesses called police and helped the victim, who was taken to hospital with cuts to his scalp and lip and a swollen and bloodied nose.

The man was named in court but the Stray Ferret has decided not to reveal his identity. He was advised by hospital staff to have a CT scan but discharged himself without being X-rayed.  

Rataj was soon arrested but lied to officers that he had acted in self-defence and used an umbrella to attack the victim. 

He admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm and appeared for sentence on Wednesday.

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Mr Finlay said the incident occurred on August 2 last year when the victim was walking past Rataj’s home in Nydd Vale Terrace and heard his dog barking.

He told the dog to “shut up”, which was heard by Rataj who retorted as the victim walked off.

Mr Finlay added:

“(Rataj) armed himself with a hammer and followed (the victim), together with a friend he was with, before catching up with him and attacking him with (the) hammer.”

Witnesses saw Rataj “change his grip” on the hammer as he approached the victim from behind. He then struck the victim with “two-to-three blows” to the head while he was laid on the ground.

Mr Finlay said:

“(The victim) was also stamped on by the defendant.

“One of the witnesses said it was to the stomach.”

He said it was a “sustained” attack and that Rataj had followed the victim for “some distance” before attacking him. 

Andrew Stranex, acting for Rataj, said his client, a Polish national, had never been in trouble before and was a hard-working man.

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Merited a jail sentence

Recorder Anthony Hawks said although the offence was so serious it merited a jail sentence, he could suspend the inevitable prison term because Rataj was of “hitherto good character” and had an “impressive” work record since arriving in the UK with his wife and family four years ago.

He told Rataj: 

“You live in an area with a significant amount of anti-social behaviour. You overreacted when someone started shouting at your dog. 

“You lost your temper, armed yourself with a hammer, ran after the man and hit him two-to-three times, causing fortunately minor injuries to his head and face. 

“I don’t know what came over you. You are very lucky that you are not facing a more serious charge. Hitting people in the head with a hammer can have fatal consequences.”

The 12-month prison sentence was suspended for two years, during which time Rataj will be supervised by the Probation Service. 

He was also ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and complete a 15-day rehabilitation programme. 

Harrogate paedophile who handed himself into police spared jail

A paedophile who downloaded images of young boys being raped has been spared jail because he was taking steps to address his amphetamine problem.

Daniel James Barnes, 31, of Montpellier Road, Harrogate, handed himself in to police and told them he had become “obsessed” with downloading and watching indecent images of children, York Crown Court heard.

He said he had handed himself in as a way of “punishing himself”, said prosecutor Helen Towers. 

Police searched his home and seized a laptop on which they found a “collection” of photos and videos featuring children between the ages of six and 14.

Some of the images showed boys as young as six being raped by men, she added.

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Barnes admitted three counts of making indecent images of children and appeared for sentence on Monday.

Ms Chapman said Barnes turned up at Harrogate Police Station in December 2019 and said he had been watching child pornography.

During the subsequent search of his home, officers seized some amphetamine as well as his laptop. A forensic examination of the computer revealed downloads of all levels of seriousness including 73 category A images, 35 category B and four category C. The downloads included both photos and move clips.

High on drugs

Ms Chapman said police found “relevant” internet search terms used by Barnes and it appeared that one such search had occurred just a few hours before he handed himself in.

She said Barnes’ first police interview had to be aborted because he appeared to be “hallucinating” and high on drugs. 

In a second interview in March last year, he told police that watching indecent images of children had become an “obsession”.

Ms Towers said:

“He accepted he had a sexual interest in children.”

Barnes subsequently saw a psychiatrist and was diagnosed with various mental-health conditions, partly induced by drug use. 

He had two previous convictions for assaulting an emergency worker. One of these occurred at the point of his arrest for the illegal images, when he attacked a police officer. The other occurred 10 months later.

Andrew Stranex, representing Barnes, said his client acknowledged that he needed help, primarily for drug abuse.

Sex offenders register

Recorder Anthony Hawks said he could spare Barnes jail because he had a “number of difficulties that are being addressed”.

But he warned Barnes:

“If you are caught watching any more child pornography you are going to go to prison for a considerable period of time.

“I don’t know why you derive pleasure from watching six-year-old boys being raped by adult men.”

Mr Hawks described the images as “filth” but said it would be better for Barnes to serve his punishment in the community where he could continue to get help from Horizons drug support agency.

Barnes was given a three-year community order under the auspices of the Probation Service and ordered to complete a sexual offenders’ treatment programme, along with a 30-day rehabilitation course. 

He was ordered to sign on the sex offenders register for five years and made subject to a five-year sexual-harm prevention order to curb his internet activities.    

Thieves who stole NHS workers’ bikes at Harrogate hospital jailed

Two prolific thieves who stole thousands of pounds worth of bikes from NHS workers in Harrogate at the height of the covid pandemic have been jailed for a combined eight years.

John Roddy and his partner-in-crime, who cannot be named for legal reasons at this stage, stole the bicycles from outside hospitals in Harrogate and York between May and October last year.

Just under £7,000 of bikes were stolen from 11 victims, many of whom were working flat out for the NHS during the covid crisis, York Crown Court heard.

Most of the thefts occurred outside Harrogate District Hospital when staff were having to deal with huge workloads due to the pandemic, said prosecutor Chris Moran.

Mr Moran said one NHS worker in Harrogate had been so “damaged” by the theft of her £400 bike that she no longer cycled to work.

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Other hospital workers had been left “extremely distressed” by the incidents at a time of national emergency. 

Two of the thefts occurred outside York District Hospital, when Roddy and his sidekick, both drug addicts, stole bikes worth over £1,000.

Some of the bikes stolen from Harrogate were worth over £1,000 and had been locked, but the thieves are thought to have used cutting equipment. One of the bikes was valued at £2,000.

Mr Moran said:

“These victims were extremely distressed given that they were NHS workers.

“One woman said she didn’t even cycle to work anymore. This was targeting of NHS staff at the height of the pandemic.”

12-hour shifts

The Harrogate woman had been working 12-hour shifts and was “emotionally and physically drained” after working flat out for half a day when she found her bike had been stolen from outside the hospital.  

Roddy, 24, and his cohort, a 33-year-old man from Leeds, appeared for sentence on Thursday after each pleaded guilty to 11 counts of theft.  

Roddy’s co-accused was also sentenced for handling thousands of pounds worth of stolen goods in a separate incident in 2018 and another theft in April 2020.

All but nine of the bike thefts occurred at hospitals. Two other bicycles were stolen outside a supermarket and a bakery. 

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The court heard that Roddy, from Headingley, Leeds, had nine previous convictions for offences including vehicle and bike thefts and was subject to a court order at the time he targeted the hospitals in Harrogate and York. His partner-in-crime had a worse criminal record, which included “numerous” thefts and burglaries. 

Kristian Kavanagh, for Roddy, said his client had battled drug addiction.

Sarah Barlow, for Roddy’s co-defendant, said her client also had a long-standing drug habit. 

Judge Simon Hickey said: 

“This was targeted criminality of high-value items that were particularly cared for by NHS workers in the main (when they) were working their shifts.

“Both of you were stealing over a period of five months (and) the victims lost just short of £7,000 of goods.”

He said that “numerous victims” had been highly distressed by the thefts and the woman who had been working 12-hour shifts was now “damaged”.

Roddy, who skipped bail following the offences, was jailed for three years and one month. His co-defendant was jailed for five years.