Latest news with #SexualOffencesPreventionOrder
Belfast Telegraph
4 days ago
- Belfast Telegraph
Playpark pervert who exposed himself to children admits breaching sex order
Predator who exposed himself to children back in the dock A playpark pervert who exposed himself to young girls has admitted breaching his Sexual Offences Prevention Order (Sopo). A solicitor for Alan Hamilton told Laganside Magistrates Court in Belfast his client would be pleading guilty to three counts.
Belfast Telegraph
01-08-2025
- Belfast Telegraph
Disgraced civil servant jailed over child images admits breaching sex crimes order
Pervert handed out origami animals to children at cultural hub in Belfast city centre A paedophile living next to a home for vulnerable adults and children despite a ban on him approaching such places has admitted breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (Sopo). Disgraced civil servant Peter Crawford was due to contest two charges at Belfast Magistrates Court on Thursday, but defence counsel Luke Curran confirmed the 50-year-old was entering guilty pleas.
Scotsman
01-08-2025
- Scotsman
11 Edinburgh criminals handed sentences in July for crimes including drug trafficking, sexual assault and
4 . NHS manager jailed for fifth time A former NHS manager who has been jailed four times for sickening child abuse offences is back behind bars after he was caught trying to hide a computer containing images of children being raped. Craig Raeburn attempted to conceal the electronic tablet in his kitchen when two police officers arrived on a routine visit at his home in Haddington, East Lothian, earlier this year. Raeburn, 60, denied any knowledge of the device when confronted by the constables but he eventually confessed he owned the tablet and was forced to hand it over. Police then carried out a cyber crime examination and found a haul of images depicting the sexual abuse of children including four rated as Category A - the worst end of the spectrum. Raeburn is now facing his fifth jail term after he admitted breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order [SOPO] and to possessing indecent images of children, when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on July 29. Prosecutor Xander van der Scheer told the court Raeburn was 'a high risk' sex offender who was being managed by police after being placed on a five year SOPO in March 2022. The court was told conditions of the order included police officers attending his home on unannounced visits to check up on his activities. The fiscal depute said officers visited Raeburn's flat to carry out 'a routine check' when they spotted a black electronic tablet leaning against a sofa on January 21 this year. Raeburn, who was also a former youth football coach, was seen to quickly scoop up two blankets from the couch and take them into the kitchen. The constables then noted the electronic tablet was missing and demanded he hand it over. Sheriff Christopher Dickson was told the father-of-two has been on remand since his arrest in January and deferred sentence for the preparation of reports to next month. | Alexander Lawrie
Scotsman
30-07-2025
- Scotsman
NHS manager jailed for fifth time after being found with child abuse images
A former NHS manager who has been jailed four times for sickening child abuse offences is back behind bars after he was caught trying to hide a computer containing images of children being raped. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Craig Raeburn attempted to conceal the electronic tablet in his kitchen when two police officers arrived on a routine visit at his home in Haddington, East Lothian, earlier this year. Raeburn, 60, denied any knowledge of the device when confronted by the constables but he eventually confessed he owned the tablet and was forced to hand it over. Police then carried out a cyber crime examination and found a haul of images depicting the sexual abuse of children including four rated as Category A - the worst end of the spectrum. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Raeburn is now facing his fifth jail term after he admitted breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order [SOPO] and to possessing indecent images of children when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday. He was previously caged for offences including possessing child abuse images, attempting to send sexual images to a teenage boy and breaching a SOPO by searching for men on the gay social media app Grindr. Craig Raeburn outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court | Alexander Lawrie Prosecutor Xander van der Scheer told the court Raeburn was 'a high risk' sex offender who was being managed by police after being placed on a five year SOPO in March 2022. The court was told conditions of the order included police officers attending his home on unannounced visits to check up on his activities. The fiscal depute said officers visited Raeburn's flat to carry out 'a routine check' when they spotted a black electronic tablet leaning against a sofa on January 21 this year. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Raeburn, who was also a former youth football coach, was seen to quickly scoop up two blankets from the couch and take them into the kitchen. The constables then noted the electronic tablet was missing and demanded he hand it over. The court was told Raeburn denied any knowledge of the device but after being pressed he eventually retrieved the device and handed it over. Mr van der Scheer said an examination of the tablet had located 31 child sexual abuse images including four Category A - the worst end of the spectrum - 14 Category B and a further 13 rated at Category C. Sheriff Christopher Dickson was told the father-of-two has been on remand since his arrest in January and deferred sentence for the preparation of reports to next month. Sheriff Dickson placed Raeburn on the sex offenders register and continued his remand in was previously jailed for 14 months when he was caught with around 1400 child abuse images in 2016. He was subsequently sacked from his position as a practitioner services manager with the NHS following the conviction. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Just weeks after his release from custody he was then snared in an online paedo hunter sting when he sent an adult decoy images of his penis and sexualised comments on Skype and WhatsApp. He was jailed again for 20 months and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years following the incident in 2018. Raeburn was then given a 15 month sentence the following year when he admitted breaching the SOPO when he was caught attempting to search for men on the gay social media app Grindr. And the serial offender was back in court in 2023 after he was caught Googling his own name on an illicit device he had not informed police he owned. He was initially fined £1,000 by a sheriff but that sentence was appealed by the Crown and the High Court of Judiciary quashed the financial penalty and judges imprisoned him for 12 months.
Sunday World
29-07-2025
- Sunday World
Pervert pensioner jailed after breaching court order
SEX OFFENDER | Convicted sex offender Stephen Ford Hutchinson downloaded a social media app without permission. Stephen Ford Hutchinson Sentencing Stephen Ford Hutchinson at Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena, District Judge Nigel Broderick told the 70-year-old he had been 'extremely fortunate' to get a suspended sentence for the index offences of attempted sexual communication with a child. 'In conjunction with that sentence the court imposed a Sexual Offences Prevention Order and the purpose of that was to reduce the risk to the public, especially in terms of sexual communication with children' he told Hutchinson. The judge said it was 'particularly concerning' that Hutchinson had downloaded and used the Telegram app which, according to police, 'is notorious for being used by criminals seeking to hide their conduct and behaviour.' Stephen Ford Hutchinson News in 90 Seconds - Tuesday, July 29 Earlier this year Hutchinson, from the Curran Road in Larne, admitted he had breached the SOPO on 7 April by downloading the app without prior approval from his Designated Risk Manager. The SOPO, an order designed to protect the public, was put in place last year after Hutchinson was convicted of attempting to sexually communicate with a child between 18 July and 1 August 2022. In that case the pensioner, who had also entered guilty pleas to three charges of having extreme pornography, had been ensnared by a paedophile hunter group whose decoy had been posing as a 14-year-old girl. The court heard how he had exchanged highly sexualised messages with the decoy and that believing he was talking to a teenage girl, he sent her explicit images of himself. During the contest, Hutchinson's testimony was at times bizarre as he claimed that he was a 'digital soldier' helping to combat against 'dark forces' involved in 'molesting children and sexualising children, indoctrinating them in schools and cannibalism.' Read more 'I believe it involves Satanic ritual child abuse and worldwide trafficking of children,' the 70-year-old told the court, claiming that at the time of the offending he had been 'tracking what was purported to be the greatest military intelligence operation in the history of the planet.' 'It was an online thing, I'm not a member of it, just tracking that's all and we had been led to believe that there was an emergency alert system imminent whereby a worldwide alert had been put out and the military would come in and take over.' In October last year, Judge Broderick imposed a five-month jail sentence, suspended for three years and commented that 'from what he has told probation that he is living in a different world - he seems to be delusional.' In court today (tues), a prosecuting lawyer confirmed that having spoken to Hutchinson's Designated Risk Manager (DRM), he confirmed that if the pensioner had asked for approval for the app, 'that would not have been granted.' 'It is notorious for criminals trying to hide their behaviour and liaising with like-minded individuals, ' he told the court. Defence counsel Nadine Knight said that according to Hutchinson himself, the police had looked through the app and had found only 'innocuous' material, adding that the pensioner 'is entirely remorseful' for the breach. 'He realises it puts his liberty at risk because he is in breach of a suspended sentence' as well as breaching the SOPO itself, said the barrister who highlighted that Hutchinson has been diagnosed with 'persistent delusional disorder' as well as living as an 'isolated individual.' Judge Broderick said however, 'I'm of the view that the custody threshold is crossed' so he imposed three months for the breach and activated five months of the previously suspended sentence, ordering them too be served consecutively.
