Man charged with attempted murder after Cambridge woman injured
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The Independent
24 minutes ago
- The Independent
Former hospital consultant jailed for multiple child sexual offences
A former hospital consultant who had more than 90,000 images of children and tried to engage in sexual conversation with someone he believed was a 14-year-old boy has been jailed for more than three years. Dr Matthew Isles, who worked as an ear, nose and throat specialist prior to his arrest in February this year, had built up a 'staggeringly vast' collection over five years, Stoke Crown Court heard on Wednesday. Judge Richard McConaghy jailed the former consultant, who worked at the Royal Stoke University Hospital and County Hospital, Stafford, and had a 22-year career in the Armed Forces before that, for three years and 10 months in relation to 13 offences. He had previously admitted two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, voyeurism, three counts of making indecent images of children, possession of a paedophile manual, three counts of distributing indecent images of children, possession of prohibited images of children and two counts of possessing extreme pornographic images. The judge told the 53-year-old, who wore a dark suit and a blue striped tie in the dock and carried a large black bag, that submissions by his barrister Phil Bradley KC that he should be given a suspended sentence were 'optimistic'. He said: 'Each and every image depicts a real child suffering real sexual abuse, some of it of the most depraved kind imaginable.' Prosecution counsel Hunter Gray told the court that Isles engaged in 'sexually explicit conversation of a grooming nature' with an undercover officer posing as a 14-year-old boy on a gay dating site between January 25 and February 6 this year. While he initially ended the chat after finding out the age of the boy he believed he was speaking to, saying he did not want to be sent to prison, Isles later continued the conversation which involved chatting about 'hooking up'. When officers visited Isles' address in Whiston, near Cheadle, Staffordshire, on February 10 to arrest him, a large quantity of items were seized including more than 90,000 images and videos on different devices. He also had voyeuristic images in a folder called 'Spycam' featuring him and a female he had filmed. Mr Gray said while the interaction was consensual, the woman did not know she was being filmed and did not consent to being recorded. Also on his devices were a paedophile manual with instructions on how to abuse children and images that had been distributed on at least three different platforms. Mr Gray said there was a 'high volume' of images found, including 1,978 category A images, 1,317 category B images, 2,134 category C images and 459 prohibited images of children, with many more that had not been categorised. Isles had also attempted to engage in sexual communication with a 15-year-old female, which Judge McConaghy described as 'utterly calculated grooming'. In police interview, Isles admitted having an 'addiction to sex, pornography and child abuse material and an addiction to collecting child sex abuse images' over the space of five years, Mr Gray said. Defending, Mr Bradley said Isles had made efforts to address his behaviour. He said: 'The criminal behaviour that this defendant is responsible for is reprehensible and seen through the eyes of disgust by right-thinking members of society. 'This man, by his own actions, has authored his own downfall. His is a catastrophic fall from grace. 'His career is in tatters, he simply cannot go back. The impact of his offending is felt by his family and friends who continue to support him. 'Within a relatively short period of time, five years, he descended into a dark hole, a dark area, but it seems he kept digging. 'He pleaded guilty at the first opportunity knowing the offences to which he pleaded are indeed serious. 'Some of the material was plainly disgusting, there is no getting behind that. Real children and real people were involved and concerned.' Judge McConaghy said Isles, who waved at a woman in the public gallery as he was sent down, must serve half of his sentence in custody before he can be released on licence. He said: 'When police looked at your devices, there was an enormous amount of child abuse images as well as a paedophile manual. 'There were also pseudo images of children. By your own admission, you have been collecting them for a number of years. 'There was a staggeringly vast quantity of images.' A sexual harm prevention order without limit of time was also imposed. The University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) said in February that it was fully co-operating with the police in their investigation and has since confirmed that Isles is no longer one of its employees. Detective Inspector Alex Glover, from Staffordshire Police's public protection unit, said: 'Isles sought out and hoarded images of the most horrific abuse of children. 'The continued circulation of child sexual abuse material normalises abuse and incentivises the creation of new content. 'We have worked closely with NHS organisations and conducted a thorough investigation into the offences committed by Isles.'
The Independent
24 minutes ago
- The Independent
Labour councillor ‘horrified' by ‘cutting throats' comment at rally, jury told
A Labour councillor who called for far-right activists' throats to be cut at an anti-racism rally has told a jury he felt 'horrified' after realising what he had said. Ricky Jones, 58, described far-right activists as 'disgusting Nazi fascists', his trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court heard. The comments were made in the wake of rioting after the Southport murders last summer. He told jurors on Wednesday that his comment did not refer to far-right protesters involved in the riots at the time, but to those who had reportedly left National Front stickers on a train with razor blades hidden behind them. A video showing Jones addressing the crowd in Walthamstow, east London, on August 7 last year, went viral on social media after the protest. Wearing a black polo top and surrounded by cheering supporters, the councillor said: 'You've got women and children using these trains during the summer holidays. 'They don't give a shit about who they hurt. 'They are disgusting Nazi fascists. We need to cut all their throats and get rid of them all.' He also drew his finger across his throat as he spoke to the crowd. Jones, who at the time worked as an official for the Transport Salaried Staff's Association (TSSA) union, later sent an edited version of his speech video to union members, the court heard. Asked by his defence barrister, Hossein Zahir KC, why he edited the video, Jones replied: 'When I had time to view the footage after the demonstration, I was shocked at what I had actually said. 'I was horrified. 'Under no circumstances did I want to portray that to anybody, so I edited that last bit out.' The unedited video was eventually posted on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, where it attracted millions of views, the trial heard. Jones told jurors he felt 'very emotional and very upset' after receiving pictures, the day before the rally, of National Front stickers that had been left on a train, which had razor blades hidden behind them – supposedly so that people who tried to remove the stickers would injure themselves. He had also received reports from union members that more razor blades had been found stuck between seats, Jones added. 'I was very concerned about what had happened on the train. 'I was thinking, this (the speech) is a good opportunity to raise what happened.' The father-of-four and grandfather described the mood in the crowd at the time as 'happy and joyful', adding: 'There clearly wasn't any upset or anger from any people in that scene, because they clearly knew it was about what happened on the train.' Prosecutor Ben Holt, cross-examining, told the defendant: 'Your words about slitting people's throats were not cheerful or happy.' Jones replied: 'I totally agree, I'm ashamed.' The defendant however denied intending to encourage violence towards far-right protesters. 'What violence could have anyone caused to those people in the train?' Jones said. 'It was nonsensical – I didn't believe there was a risk.' Jones, who has been a borough councillor in Dartford, Kent, since 2019, was suspended by the Labour Party the day after the alleged incident. He was arrested on August 8 last year and interviewed at Brixton Police Station that night. The demonstration had been organised in response to plans for a far-right march outside Waltham Forest Immigration Bureau. It followed the disorder in parts of the UK last summer after the Southport murders. Jones, of Dartford, denies one count of encouraging violent disorder. The trial continues.
The Independent
24 minutes ago
- The Independent
Richard Masters: Frustration over wait for Man City case decision ‘irrelevant'
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters says any frustration he might feel over the time it is taking to reach a decision in the Manchester City case is 'irrelevant' and says he and everyone else will 'have to be patient'. The Premier League issued more than 100 charges against City in February 2023 related to alleged breaches of its financial rules and with allegedly failing to co-operate with the subsequent investigation, and referred the matter to an independent commission. City have always strenuously denied any wrongdoing. The case was heard by a commission between September and December last year but no decision has been published. The issue continues to hang over the league as the 2025-26 season gets under way this weekend, with Masters reiterating his organisation has no control or say over the timings. Asked by Sky Sports News why the league could not hurry the process along, Masters said: 'I can't answer that specific question. What I can tell you about is the system and how it works. 'I mean, it's an independent judiciary, essentially. So once the allegations, the charge has been put forward, they go before an independent panel, which is independently selected, and they are then in charge of the process and its timings. 'They hear the case, they decide the outcome, and we have no influence over that, over it or its timing. 'And that's right, if you think from an independence point of view, that there is independent people making those decisions, and we just have to be waiting. 'My frustration is irrelevant, really. I mean, I just have to wait, and legal processes rarely take less time than you anticipated, but we have to be patient.'
