Category Archives: Carmarthenshire

Paul Randle – Ammanford

14 Friday Aug 2020

Posted by in Carmarthenshire

≈ Comments Off on Paul Randle – Ammanford

August 2020

Former RAF counter-intelligence expert had pictures of newborn baby being sexually abused

A former RAF serviceman with a distinguished career in uniform has been exposed as a “shameless paedophile” addicted to looking at pictures of child abuse.

Paul Randle was found with more than 2,000 indecent images, some showing a newborn baby being sexually abused.

Swansea Crown Court heard there were another 118,000 pictures and videos on his computers which police had not examined or categorised.

Tom Scapens, prosecuting, said Randle was arrested after police raided his Ammanford house on the morning of November 6 last year.

Officers seized a number of devices including a Samsung tablet from the property, and a subsequent forensic examination found more than 2,000 indecent images of children – from categories A, the most serious kind, as well as B and C – along with software for accessing the dark web, open links to known paedophile sites, and a link to an online photo storage facility.

The prosecutor said among the images found was one of a naked newborn baby being sexually abused by a woman.

Another 118,000 images were located on various devices but not examined.

Officers also found 50-year-old Randle had been involved in extensive online chats about the sexual abuse of children using a number of platforms including Skype and Kik.

In his police interviews the defendant denied downloading indecent images, saying much of the computer equipment had been bought second hand.

He said he had spent more than 20 years with the RAF police working IT, counter-intelligence, and security.

Randle later claimed to have been trying to expose paedophiles online, then said the images were part of his work, and then changed his story yet again to claim he was being blackmailed.

Randle, of Saron Road, Ammanford, had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children and three counts of distributing indecent images when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.

The court heard he has no previous convictions.

Judge Geraint Walters said some of the images the defendant had downloaded were “among the most appalling imaginable”.

He said it was “beyond the comprehension of human beings” how someone could get sexual gratification from looking at pictures of newborn babies being abused, and he described Randle as a “shameless paedophile who is addicted to child pornography”.

Giving the defendant a one-third discount for his guilty pleas the judge sentenced him to a total of two years and four months in prison.

Randle will serve up to a half of that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.

The defendant will be on the sex offenders register for the next 10 years, and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for the same length of time to control his access to the internet.

Geraint Coslett – Llanelli

05 Wednesday Aug 2020

Posted by in Carmarthenshire

≈ Comments Off on Geraint Coslett – Llanelli

August 2020

Paedophile took pictures of himself abusing five-year-old boy

A paedophile took pictures on a mobile phone as he sexually abused a young boy, a court has heard.

The images came to light after the boy confided in his grandmother about what had happened.

A search of Geraint Coslett’s phone also found deleted indecent images of children which he had downloaded from the internet.

Swansea Crown Court heard a psychiatric report into the defendant concluded he has “persistent thoughts” about pre-pubescent children.

Robin Rouch, prosecuting, said the victim was aged five at the time of the offending. Coslett sexually assaulted the boy twice and got the youngster to engage in sexual activity.

The offending came to light when the victim later told his grandmother what had happened and said: “I didn’t like it.”

Police were contacted and when the defendant was arrested he denied the allegations.

However an examination of the 36-year-old’s phone showed a number of pictures of him abusing the victim as well as evidence he had searched for and downloaded indecent images of children from the internet.

In an impact statement read to the court the boy’s mother said her son was now “anxious and nervous around people he does not know”, won’t sleep on his own, doesn’t want to play, and gets angry at times. She added: “It feels like his childhood is being taken away from him.”

Coslett, of Mansel Street, Llanelli, admitted two counts of sexual assault of a child under 13 and one of causing a child to engage in sexual activity. He has no previous convictions.

Judge Geraint Walters told Coslett the impact of what he had done to the boy could last a lifetime.

He said: “It is no an exaggeration to say behaviour of this sort effectively deprives a child of that which is the right of every child – to be brought up feeling safe. You took that away from him.”

He said he had read a psychiatric report into Coslett which concluded he has “persistent thoughts” about pre-pubescent children – a finding consistent with paedophilia.

Giving the defendant a 25% discount for his guilty pleas the judge sentenced him to six years in prison. Coslett will serve up to half in prison before being released on licence.

The defendant will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order to limit his access to children – something which the the judge said was necessary “to reduce the obvious risk there is that, even with treatment, you may commit further offences”.

David Jones/John Powell – Neath

05 Friday Jun 2020

Posted by in Carmarthenshire, Glamorgan

≈ Comments Off on David Jones/John Powell – Neath

January 2020

Predatory paedophile made young victims ‘swear pinky promise’ not to reveal abuse

A sex offender made his young victims “swear a pinky promise” not to tell anybody about the abuse, a court has heard.

A judge described David Jones – who used to be known as John Powell until he changed his name – as a “sexual predator of children” over many years.

Jones, who is currently serving a sentence for sexual offences, returned to the dock of Swansea Crown Court after a new victim came forward.

Nigel Fryer, prosecuting, said the fresh offending related to the 1990s when Jones sexually abused a young boy aged under 10 at locations in Neath and Carmarthenshire 

He said Jones performed sex acts on the child and made the boy perform sex acts on him. Mr Fryer said the defendant told his victim not tell any adults about what was going on, making the boy “swear a pinky promise” to keep the secret.

The court heard the victim tried to “lock away” the experience of his boyhood until he confided in his partner in 2013 and then decided to conduct his own “investigations” to find Jones.

The prosecutor said when the victim later became a father himself, that triggered his decision to go to the police and report his abuser.

Jones, aged 46, a serving prisoner at Usk prison, Monmouth, had previously pleaded guilty to gross indecency with a child and indecent assault of a child when he appeared for sentencing.

In an impact statement read to the court by the prosecutor the victim described the devastating effect of the abuse on his life.

He said at the time he had found the experience “confusing” but knew it was not right. As he grew older and came to realise exactly what had happened he said he felt ashamed and  said he had lived with a sense of “shame and embarrassment” ever since.

He said since becoming a father he suffers nightmares that somebody is sexually abusing his children in front of him and he can do nothing to stop it. He said the nightmares were so vivid “I wake up screaming”.

The court heard Jones – under his original name of Powell – was convicted in 2012 of sexually abusing five girls in offences where he again made them swear pinky promises. He was made the subject of an extended sentence as a dangerous offender.

Jones was released on licence after two years but soon recalled to prison after contacting a fellow inmate he had met in prison and has been in prison ever since. He was due to be released from this sentence later this year. The court heard the defendant also has a previous conviction for sexually abusing a young boy.

Judge Paul Thomas QC told Jones that over the course of many years he had proved himself to be “a sexual predator of children of both sexes” and to have a “lust for young children”.

He said the case was not a simple one to sentence because he had to take into account the previous dangerousness sentence Jones had received, changes in the law since the offending, and the lower sentences that were applicable at the time.

Jones was made the subject of a seven-year extended sentence comprising six years in custody and an extra one-year licence period.

He can apply for release at the halfway point of the six years but will only be released if the authorities deem him no longer to be a risk.

He will be on the sex offenders register for the rest of his life and be subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order to control his access to children.

Christopher Tatton – Llandyfriog

27 Wednesday May 2020

Posted by in Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion

≈ Comments Off on Christopher Tatton – Llandyfriog

March 2020

17 years’ jail for paedophile pensioner who targeted girls as young as five

A Newcastle Emlyn pensioner convicted of sex offences against girls aged as young as five has been jailed this morning for 17 years.

Christopher Tatton, aged 73, of Ty Maris, Llandyfriog, had been found guilty of all the offences of indecent assault following a trial at Swansea Crown Court.

His barrister, Ian Ibrahim, said the day after his convictions he had suffered a heart attack after being remanded to Parc prison, near Bridgend.

He was now awaiting a heart bypass operation, said Mr Ibrahim.

Tatton had denied the offences.

Today, Judge Paul Thomas told Tatton he had robbed the girls of their childhoods and the effects of his offending had plagued their adulthoods.

“I have been asked to show compassion to you. I shall do so,” the judge said.

“However, I am bound to say you showed no compassion to those girls.

“You put your twisted sexual urges before their rights to grow up in a proper way.”

Judge Thomas also criticised Tatton for “trying to brazen your way out to save your own skin” and putting his victims through a trial where they were accused of being liars.

Judge Thomas passed an extended sentence and after his eventual release Tatton will be on licence and liable to be recalled to prison until 2039.

February 2020

Teifi Valley pensioner found guilty of sexually abusing young girls

A Newcastle Emlyn pensioner has been warned he will serve years in jail after a jury convicted him of sexually abusing young girls.

Christopher James Tatton was told he would receive a substantial prison sentence despite being 72 years of age and in poor health.

Tatton, of Llandyfriog, was found guilty on Monday of multiple offences of indecent assault against three girls following a trial at Swansea crown court.

Tatton was convicted by majority verdicts and immediately remanded into custody.

Judge Paul Thomas warned him that a lengthy sentence would be the outcome but he needed to consider medical evidence before deciding on the term.

Tatton, who was once a volunteer on the Teifi Valley narrow gauge railway, had denied the charges and claimed the complaints had been invented.

Tatton will be sentenced on 9 March.

Mark Richards – Llanelli

07 Saturday Sep 2019

Posted by in Carmarthenshire

≈ Comments Off on Mark Richards – Llanelli

September 2019

Welsh paedophile took condoms and lubricant to meet ‘hot little schoolgirl’

Paedophile Mark Richards thought he was chatting to a 13-year-old girl he wanted to have sex with – but it was an undercover cop, a court heard.

He even took lubrication jelly and condoms to meet the fictional youngster, but was busted by the police officer working as part of Operation Harrier, to snare perverts preying on children

Swansea Crown Court heard Richards, 45, had arranged to meet her at a train station and even arrived there with his own daughter before being arrested

Undercover officers would pretend to be children and chat to suspects online as part of the operation Carina Hughes, acting for the prosecution said.

Then during July this year Richards started chatting with a girl on the chatroom Chatiw.

The barrister said the conversation soon turned sexual in nature with Richards calling the girl a “naughty little b****” and a “hot little schoolgirl”.

The court heard the pair continued to chat on the messaging platforms WhatsApp and Kik, with the conversation becoming increasingly explicit despite the “girl” repeatedly telling the defendant how old she was.

Richards then gave the decoy his daughter’s phone number and the pair arranged to meet the following day at Carmarthen train station.

When Richards got off the train at just after 10am on July 10 he was arrested by waiting police. He was accompanied on the trip by his adult daughter.

The court heard that in his subsequent interview Richards answered no comment to all questions but his 20-year-old daughter told police she was aware of her father’s “abnormal sexual behaviour”.

Richards, of Stafford Street,Llanelli, admitted attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and attempting to meet a girl under 16 following grooming.

The court heard has 11 previous convictions for 53 offences but none for sexual matters.

Judge Huw Rees told Richards he had intended to “lure” his victim to a meeting with the intention of having sex with her and had taken condoms and lubrication jelly with him to that end.

He said it was clear that the defendant had not been deterred when the “girl” made it clear she was just 13 and in fact her age had only “encouraged” him.

The judge said a probation report into Richards had concluded he posed a high risk of serious harm to children aged between 12 and 16

Giving the defendant a 25% discount for his guilty pleas the judge sentenced him to 18 months in prison. Richards will serve half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.

He was also made the subject of a 10-year sexual harm prevention order to limit his access to the internet and to children and will be a registered sex offender for the same period.