Category Archives: Avon and Somerset & Bristol

Joshua Foster – Bristol

28 Monday Sep 2020

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September 2020

Hospital worker met paedophile hunter posing as underage girl at Bath Spa railway station-

A Bristol hospital worker, who was caught by a paedophile hunter after allegedly arranging to meet someone he believed to be 14 for sex, has lost his job.

A Health and Care Professionals Tribunal Service panel found Joshua L Foster sent sexually explicit messages to a man posing as a girl before arranging to meet “her” at Bath Spa railway station in 2017.

He was charged by the police but the trial at Bristol Crown Court in 2018 collapsed after the judge misdirected the jury.

The Crown Prosecution Service decided not to proceed with a retrial and a verdict of not guilty was entered by a judge.

Foster, who worked as an operating department practitioner at the North Bristol Trust, has been now struck off by the Health and Care Professionals Tribunal Service.

The tribunal panel heard that Foster responded to a Craigslist advert posted by a freelance journalist and “self-appointed paedophile hunter”, claiming to be Lou, a 14-year-old virgin seeking to meet someone and possibly have sex with them.

The tribunal heard he travelled from Bristol to Bath to meet “her” on August 6, 2017, where he was confronted by the paedophile hunter and detained until the police arrived.

Foster was charged with an offence under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 but ultimately a not guilty verdict was entered.

The Health and Care Professions Council then looked at the evidence.

It heard that the paedophile hunter had posted an advert saying “Parents away, free house until Thursday”. He had written: “my parents have gone away so I got a free house and wanna chat and maybe meet someone. I’m a virgin but not sure if I wanna lose it or not haha. Message me for my number or my Kik.”

The HCPC saw sexually explicit messages from Foster to “Lou” and one saying: “And I can’t stress that enough if something were to happen I could end up in jail you understand that right? I’m putting a lot of trust in you”.

The tribunal panel found that, on the balance of probabilities – a lower bar than the criminal requirement of beyond reasonable doubt – Foster sent sexually explicit messages to the “Lou”, and arranged to meet “her” in Bath planning to have sex.

The tribunal heard he showed up with a bag of condoms and “arousal gel”.

In written representations, Foster claimed he had gone there to tell the person that he did not intend to have sex with her and to “let her down gently”. The panel rejected that explanation.

Foster said it was an isolated incident, he had sought a counsellor and psychotherapist and was “extremely embarrassed for the situation I find myself in”.

The panel said he had shown a lack of insight into his actions and was not convinced that he believed “Lou” was older than 16.

It “found that there remains a significant risk of repetition and with it the risk that the registrant will bring the profession into disrepute in the future.

“Public confidence in the profession would be significantly undermined if the registrant were allowed to remain upon the register, because that course would give the impression to the public that the profession did not take sufficiently seriously an attempt to commit a serious sexual offence against a child.

“The panel recognises that a striking-off order will inevitably have a serious effect upon the registrant. Nevertheless, the panel is satisfied that no other course is consistent with its duty to protect the public and the wider public interest.”

Phillip Taylor – Wells/Hull

14 Monday Sep 2020

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September 2020

Pervert finally jailed after going on the run three times

A paedophile who went on the run three times after being exposed by a paedophile hunting team has finally been jailed

Phillip David Taylor, of Wells, but formerly Hull appeared at Taunton Crown Court where he faced multipl charges which included:

  • Two counts of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity

  • Two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child

The court was told that Taylor who used an alias of ‘Flip Flop’ had contacted the online profiles of at least 20 different underage girls and went on to send sexually explicit messages

However, unbeknown to him, he had actually messaged multiple decoys from various paedophile hunting teams.

Team Impact contacted the UK database team and a sting was organised to exposed Taylor.

In late 2017, the team found Taylors address in Wells, Somerset and proceeded to interview him about his internet activity.

Taylor was obnoxious, arrogant and ignorant to the seriousness of his crimes, and downplayed his offending and the danger he posed to young girls.

During the questioning, the team said Taylor acted in a manner that He echoed Jimmy Saville. To which Taylor repied that he believed ‘Jimmy Savile was innocent’

Taylor was arrested after the sting, but was released on bail pending further enquiries by police – however, he evaded the police and went on the run for 13 months.

He was caught and was given a new court date, but failed to show again, so a warrant was made for his arrest. He was again caught by police and re-bailed to re-appear at court a few months later.

However, he failed to appear at court for a third time. But was eventually caught and was sentenced at Taunton Crown Court last week.

The judge sentenced Taylor to 22 months imprisonment

A 10 year sexual harm prevention order was made and he was told to register as a sex offender for ten years

David Tovey – Plymouth/Yeovil

06 Sunday Sep 2020

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September 2020

Perverted monster caged for child sex crimes in Plymouth

A pervert has been jailed for six years for child sex offences – which were filmed on a mobile phone.

Depraved David Tovey, aged 39, confessed after police found images on the handset, a court heard.

His victim, an underage girl, was described as vulnerable.

Widower Tovey went on to intimidate a housemate who alerted police to his offences, Plymouth Crown Court was told.

Judge William Mousley jailed him for six years and ordered him to sign the Sex Offender Register for life.

Tovey, formerly of Keyham Road, pleaded guilty to two serious serious sexual offences involving the girl between March and July.

He also admitted three counts of possession of indecent images, the pictures which were found on the phone.

Tovey, recently living in Yeovil in Somerset, also pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice by intimidating a witness.

Rachel Drake, for the Crown Prosecution Service, described the victim as a “vulnerable teenager”.

She added that police visited Tovey at his shared house in Keyham Road after concerns raised by a neighbour and a social worker.

The barrister added that they found the indecent images on the mobile phone – which Tovey had incited the girl to take.

Miss Drake said that Tovey went on to threaten the neighbour who had given a police statement about him.

The court heard the defendant had previously been jailed for three years by a judge at Taunton Crown Court in 2009 for the sexual assault of a girl.

David Spears – Bedminster Down

30 Sunday Aug 2020

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August 2020

Bedminster Down man kept more than 5,000 indecent images of children

A Bedminster Down man has appeared in court after he downloaded thousands of indecent images of children.

Police searched David Spears’ Bishopsworth Road home on July 13, 2018, and seized devices storing 5,233 indecent images and videos of children

The 54-year-old appeared at Bristol Magistrates’ Court this week and admitted making indecent images of kids

Prosecutor Hannah Depledge said: “Police obtained a warrant to search the property after it was linked to indecent images of children.

“The defendant was present when they executed the warrant, as was his mum and dad.

“He was asked if he knew why police were there. The response was yes.

“He led officers to his bedroom and identified various devices as his own.”

Officers found a laptop with its battery removed, a USB device, a computer tower and various storage devices.

They found 668 images and videos in the most serious Category A showing the rape and torture of young children

Ms Depledge said the devices contained “quick links” containing words such as “preteen” and “11-year-old little boy”.

Presiding Justice Steven Wilson adjourned the case to October 7 at Bristol Crown Court.

Darren Bond – Weston-super-Mare

13 Thursday Aug 2020

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September 2020

Judge slams police officer ‘in denial’ over pictures he possessed of children being raped

A 46-year-old former policeman sacked by the Avon and Somerset force after he downloaded child porn and posed as 14-year-old girl on the internet has been jailed for two years and eight months.

PC Darren Bond of Hay Grove, Weston-super-Mare, who was based in Bristol, was once hailed as a hero for rescuing a woman and her partner from the sea in his home town of Weston. 

He received a Royal Life Saving Society commendation for the brave rescue seven years ago.

But he was dismissed from his force earlier this month after he pleaded guilty at Gloucester Crown Court on August 10 to eight charges of possessing, making and distributing indecent images of children through online chat platforms.

And today his disgrace was complete when he was jailed by Judge Ian Lawrie QC.

Prosecutor Ray Tully told the court that PC Bond had served as a police officer for 16 years, part of the time with the Metropolitan Police.

He was suspended in November 2017 when the Avon and Somerset Constabulary was told by the National Crime Agency about illegal internet activity associated with Bond’s IP address at his home in Bishopstone in Bristol and sent the force’s child abuse team.

Mr Tully said: “Bond was posting indecent material on a number of social media web sites. He started with a Kik account, but when this was closed down by the American authorities he started using another account with a different organisation on the Dark Web.

“The use of such a web site is a regular feature of those who decide to view this material,” said Mr Tully.

“The Force had difficulty rousing him when they went to arrest him as he lived at the top of the building. But when they entered the property they found a number of electronic devices which had programmes on them to disguise the IP address.

“Experts also found that Bond had installed encrypted software enabling him to view specialist websites.

“The investigators discovered a number of indecent images of a child and some 500 images that couldn’t be examined. Bond had also visited a Russian website containing indecent images.

“Bond’s offending covers about a year that ended in November 2017 when he was arrested,” the prosecutor said.

The court was told that Bond had made a 250 page statement to the police in which he said that the offending began when his marriage broke down and he suffered from a number of life events which left him feeling isolated.

Judge Ian Lawrie QC interjected: “Bond has given a rather lavish explanation of adopting a vigilante role. The statement does not stand up to scrutiny. A contrived effort in what he was trying to cover up.

“One of the young victims is heard to say in one of the videos, ‘It hurts’.

“Bond is still in denial of his offending and has in reality he has not recognised the barbarity of his actions as he only pleaded guilty at the last opportunity just before a trial.”

Michael Hall, defending, said: “This is a fairly unremarkable case as the numbers are relatively small. We are only dealing with 39 images, 36 of which were on category C, the least offensive and he only distributed nine images.

“Bond was only caught when the programme disguising his IP address slowed down his computer, so he decided to remove it and used his own IP address – which came to the attention of the National Crime Agency.

“Bond has made significant progress since he admitted his guilt in August this year.”

Judge Lawrie interjected: “The pre-sentence report suggests that Bond is back where he was a year ago, in denial. He states he has no sexual interest in the images.

“He is in a profound state of denial,but surely being a policeman seconded to CID he should be able to grasp this?”

Mr Hall added: “Bond’s offending began by a misplaced professional curiosity. He got perverse pleasure impersonating a 14-year-old girl.

“Bond has since recognised that he has demons within him and has since admitted he gained sexual pleasure from downloading these images.”

Bond, balding with a full beard, wore a black shirt and striped purple tie to court and appeared unemotional as the details of his offending were given to the judge.

The court was told that earlier this month the Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset Andy Marsh found the criminal offences which Bond had admitted amounted to gross misconduct which brought discredit on the police service and that the only appropriate sanction was dismissal without notice.

Mr Hall emphasised that the central question was Bond’s rehabilitation in the community.

He said: “The risk of him offending is very low. Considering the history of this case over the past three years, he has suffered greatly.

“He has faced public ridicule. He has been ostracised by the community. He is fearful about being sent to prison and what might happen to him because he was a former police officer.”

In sentencing Bond, Judge Lawrie said: “You pleaded guilty effectively on the day of your trial in August for images found on your devices downloaded between August 24 and 27.

“In August 2017 your unlawful activity came to the attention of the authorities in America who informed the National Crime Agency.

“There were images of naked girls aged between eight and 11 being raped by an adult male.

“You refused to help your fellow officers with their investigation because you knew they would find incriminating material on your devices.

“For a period of a year you disguised your internet browsing history and installed software to hinder any investigation.

“You made the claim that the police were not doing their job and effectively you took on the role to investigate yourself.

“The 250 page statement you submitted at interview was a bogus document. You appear to still be in denial.

“Your deception involved you storing images on the Cloud. You had a particular interest in young girls aged 11 to 14, but many as young as eight years old. Some of the children expressed pain and distress in the videos.

“You used your knowledge of being a police officer to try and avoid detection. You are a police officer, even off duty.

“Your were even praised by the Royal Life Saving Society for your efforts of wading into the sea in Western Super Mare to help save the lives of a woman and her partner.

“This case crosses the custody threshold. I do not accept that you didn’t have a sexual interest in the images because of the search criteria.

“Your offending is a breach of the public’s trust.”

The judge subjected Bond to signing the sex offenders’ register for ten years and comply with the terms of a sexual harm prevention order limiting his use of the internet for the same time period. He was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £120.

Bond will also be placed on the National College of Policing’s barred list which prohibits him from working within policing and certain law enforcement bodies

August 2020

Officer pleads guilty to indecent images offences

A police officer has pleaded guilty to eight offences relating to indecent images of children.

PC Darren Bond, 46, who was based at Kenneth Steele House, appeared at Gloucester Crown Court yesterday (10 August) where he admitted charges of possessing, making and distributing indecent images of children through online chat platforms.

Some of the images were classified as Category A, which are the highest in severity.

PC Bond, who was suspended in November 2017, was arrested following information received by another law enforcement agency.

He will be sentenced at the same court on 21 September.