Latest news with #HMCourts&TribunalService
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Attempted rape victim 'confused' in 999 call
A 999 call from a woman who a man allegedly posing as an "unofficial Uber" driver attempted to rape has been played in court. Graham Head, of Pevensey in East Sussex, is alleged to have had latex gloves, condoms, Viagra tablets and a balaclava in his silver Mercedes when he was arrested in November 2022. The 68-year-old is accused of kidnapping, sexually assaulting and attempting to rape a 25-year-old woman after picking her up in Brighton city centre. The woman died in December 2024. He denies the charges, stating that he offered the woman a lift home but did not touch her, jurors at Lewes Crown Court were told. The court heard that in a 999 call made by the woman, she told the operator: "A man put me to sleep. I don't know what he did. I woke up. He had gloves on. I need some help. This man is clearly doing this to people. "I'm confused, I'm really confused. "He was pulling my trousers down and then I kicked him and he's driven off. "He had a mask on and he had plastic gloves on his hands. He said he was an Uber, he said he was going to drive me home. I didn't order one and I was reluctant." The woman remembered part of a number plate and Mr Head was arrested minutes later after a police pursuit through Hove, the court was told. According to the prosecution, in a police interview, the woman said Mr Head told her he was finishing his shift and would drive her home. "I tried to sit in the front and he said I couldn't. I closed the window and fell asleep. I was fading in and out of consciousness and becoming aware I had been in the car for a really long time," she said. "He kept stopping the car and was groping me. He got into the back and he had these rubber gloves. I was so out of it, I thought maybe this guy is going to chop me into pieces." Mr Head is also accused of assaulting 19-year-old woman he picked up near Hove Park, which he denies. The trial continues. Man posed as taxi driver to abuse women, court told HM Courts & Tribunal Service
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Yahoo
Sex offender jailed for contacting young girls
A registered sex offender who breached a prevention order by sending sexually explicit messages to schoolgirls has been jailed for four years and eight months. Katie Birtles was arrested on 16 January after trying to meet a 14-year-old girl at the railway station in Grantham, Lincolnshire. Birtles, of Wroxall Drive, Grantham, breached a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO), preventing any contact with children, which was put in place in 2017 for previous offences. At Lincoln Crown Court on Monday, the 40-year-old was ordered to remain on the sex offenders register for life and will be subject to the SHPO indefinitely. Lincolnshire Police said messages on Birtles' phone over a two-week period in January found the offender was planning to meet victims for sex and had offered to buy gifts such as wine and chocolates. Birtles pleaded guilty to one count of engaging in sexual communication with a child, one count of arranging/facilitating commission of offence of sexual activity and two counts of breaching the SHPO. The defendant had previously admitted three counts of making indecent images of children at a hearing in September 2017 and was sentenced to nine months in prison. Birtles was also handed a 10-year SHPO, with one of the conditions preventing any direct or indirect contact with children under 16, both online and offline. Det Con Nicola Paradowski, from the Lincolnshire force, said: "I hope this sends a clear message that we will not tolerate child sexual exploitation in our county and will take robust action. "Breaches to orders like the sexual harm prevention order will be dealt with and action will be taken immediately to ensure we continue to protect those at risk of most harm in our communities." Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here. HM Courts & Tribunal Service
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Yahoo
'Unduly lenient' sentences for abusers increased
Three men who sexually abused a vulnerable girl have had their prison terms increased after they were found to be "unduly lenient". Ibrar Hussain, 47, and brothers Imtiaz and Fayaz Ahmed, aged 62 and 45, were convicted of raping a girl in Keighley in the 1990s when she was aged 13 or 14. In January, Hussain was jailed for six and a half years, Imtiaz Ahmed for nine years and Fayaz Ahmed given seven and a half years. The Solicitor General referred the case to the Court of Appeal, with Hussain and Fayaz Ahmed's sentences increased to 10 years and Imtiaz Ahmed's term to 11 years. During their trial, the court heard the victim moved to Keighley in the early 1990s and met the men, with the girl given money, drugs and alcohol in return for sex. Hussain and Fayaz Ahmed were 18 and 17 at the time, while Imtiaz Ahmed was in his 30s. In a statement read to the court, the victim said she still suffered flashbacks and the trauma left her unable to trust people, including the services there to protect her. Imtiaz and Fayaz Ahmed are believed to have absconded to Pakistan in 2023 and were sentenced in absentia. Following their sentencing, Keighley and Ilkley MP Robbie Moore contacted the Attorney General to complain about the sentences. The Solicitor General Lucy Rigby KC MP said she had agreed with Moore and referred the sentences as they were "unduly lenient". "This case involved the shocking and hideous abuse of a vulnerable teenager by these three sexual predators," she said. "I attended court today for the hearing and I very much welcome the Court of Appeal's significant increases to these sentences." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North. HM Courts & Tribunal Service 'Pathetically short' rape sentences to be reviewed Child sex abusers jailed for string of assaults
