Category Archives: Operation Spade

Edmund Lynch – Queen’s Park

01 Wednesday Jun 2016

Posted by in London, Operation Spade

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May 2016

Queen’s Park paedophile downloaded indecent images of children and animals

A paedophile from Queen’s Park has admitted downloading thousands of sickening images some featuring children and animals.

Edmund Lynch, 53, of Fifth Avenue, was caught with the indecent images following an undercover police operation into a notorious film company.

Westminster Magistrates Court heard he downloaded 4,105 photographs January 2010 and August 2015.

They included 19 images at the most serious Category A featuring children and bestiality.

Officers raided his house after he was identified as a customer who bought videos and DVD’s made by Azov films in Canada.

The company claims the movies feature naturist or naturalist pictures, of boys coming of age, but it’s nude young males in commercial films.

Edward Aydin, prosecuting, said: “This case originates from the Toronto Police department in Canada, as part of Operation Spade.

“The police officers conducted undercover operations identifying cases in more than 94 countries who had purchased videos and DVD’s made by Azov films.

“He [Lynch] had ordered sexual pictures and videos, and stored them on digital equipment.’

Mr Aydin told the court there were also 268 images at Category B and 3,818 at Category C.

Lynch pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent photographs.

Bench chair Penny Hatfield sent the case to Southwark Crown Court for sentence on a date to be decided.

She said: “There is a small number of category A, but due to the number of images, this court does not have the sentencing power.

“We also take into account the scale of time that these images were accumulated.”

Philip Mitchell – Pencombe

11 Friday Mar 2016

Posted by in Herefordshire, Operation Spade

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April 2016

Man with indecent images of children tracked down by international police operation

A HEREFORDSHIRE pensioner whose hoard of indecent images of children was tracked down in an international police investigation has been given a 12-month community order.

Philip Mitchell, aged 69, of Pencombe, pleaded guilty to 12 charges of possessing indecent material when he appeared for sentence at Worcester Crown Court.

Prosecutor Christopher Lester said Canadian police had started an investigation after checking the activities of a film firm based in Toronto.

They had passed on information they gleaned to other forces as part of Operation Spade.

One of the addresses led to Mitchell’s home and officers found more than 4,000 images.

More than 3,500 were in category C, the least serious, but there were also 515 in category B and 281 in category A, the most serious.

Mitchell had led them to the computer and his store of disks.

He said that he should have destroyed them and had not tried to copy or distribute them.

James Turner, mitigating, said Mitchell had made an admission as soon as he was interviewed but had been waiting for nine months with the case hanging over him.

He had started by watching adult porn but admitted that he was attracted by young adults.

Judge Daniel Pearce-Higgins QC commented that Mitchell was a man of good character from all the references he had received.

But his use of the internet had turned his whole life upside down.

Imposing the order, he said there should be specified activity supervised by the probation service.

He made a sexual harm prevention order for an indefinite period and ordered Mitchell to sign on the sex offender register for five years and pay £360 costs.

March 2016

Pensioner pleads guilty to possessing thousands of indecent images of children

A PENSIONER has admitted possessing thousands of indecent images of children after being discovered in an international police investigation into child pornography.

Philip Mitchell, 69, of Pencombe, pleaded guilty to 12 charges of possessing indecent photographs of children at Hereford Magistrates Court. Last Thursday’s hearing was told that of the 4,540 images found, 283 of the still images and 58 moving images were Category A – of the most serious nature.

Lesley Ashton, prosecuting, said that Mitchell first came to police attention as part of Project Spade in Toronto, Canada.

The international operation focused on a firm which distributed DVDs of naked children, which it marketed as “naturist.”

Mrs Ashton said as part of the operation, UK police were informed after deliveries were tracked to Mitchell’s address.

So far the operation claims to have led to 350 arrests across 50 countries.

“Initially Canadian police were involved in an investigation in Toronto which uncovered a website. UK police were also contacted as part of Project Spade,” said Mrs Ashton.

“As a result of that they tracked a number of deliveries to the defendant’s home address.Due to the nature of the material police uncovered, items of computer equipment were seized from his home address with still and moving images on them.”

“A number of computer discs were also recovered.”

Magistrates adjourned the case until April for sentencing at a crown court.Mitchell was released on conditional bail not to have any unsupervised contact with children.

John Prescott – Wigan

23 Wednesday Dec 2015

Posted by in Greater Manchester, Operation Spade

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February 2019

Pervert admits breaching sexual harm prevention order three times

A man has admitted to three sexual harm prevention order breaches by having unauthorised contact with minors.

John Prescott, 58, of Worcester Avenue, Hindley, was given a community order and told to sign on the sex offenders’ register for five years in 2015 after pleading guilty to possessing more than 22,000 indecent images of children.

Wigan justices heard the former cabbie had unsupervised contact with under-16s who were not immediate family and without social services’ approval, that two under-16s stayed at his home overnight and he failed to register residence with an under-18 with police. He will be sentenced by a Bolton judge on March 13.

December 2015

Cabbie had 22,000 sickening child abuse images – NO prison

A TAXI driver was found to have downloaded more than 22,000 child abuse images, a court heard.

When police raided John Prescott’s home following intelligence from the Canadian authorities he said he had “naturist” films but denied having indecent images of children.

However after his computer equipment was seized that day, June 6 last year, analysis revealed a total of 22,534 indecent photographs plus a further 93 indecent videos in all three categories of seriousness.

The 58-year-old Hackney carriage driver, who lives with his elderly mother, was re-interviewed and admitting downloading the perverted images over the previous six or seven years.

“He maintained it began as an interest in naturism but progressed to viewing sexual acts with children. He said he knew it was only a matter of time before the police would discover this matter,” said Henry Riding, prosecuting.

“Prescott said he had not used a computer since his arrest and apologised,” he added.

Prescott, of Worcester Avenue, Hindley, pleaded guilty to 15 specimen offences of making indecent images and one of possessing them.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that Prescott had been a taxi driver for 11 years but has had his licence revoked since the offences came to light.

Imposing a community sentence, including attendance on an intensive sex offenders course, Judge Robert Warnock warned him if he breached the order he will jail him.

“I see there is a suggestion in the probation report you might not have the motivation to comply. If you breach the order I will put you straight in custody,” he said and pointed out that if he had been convicted after a trial he would have jailed him for 12 months.

The judge explained he was not jailing him because “My prime concern is the welfare of others. The sentence I pass is best for society in general.”

As well as the three year community order including attendance on the Northumbria Group Sex Offenders Programme he ordered him to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for five years.

Jamie Crowie – Loughborough

30 Monday Nov 2015

Posted by in Leicestershire, Operation Spade

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November 2015

Man who downloaded indecent images of children jailed for two years

A man who downloaded indecent images of children has been jailed for two years.

Jamie Crowie, 23, was found to have the illegal images of youngsters on his mobile phone.

He pleaded guilty to seven offences of possessing indecent photographs, between December 2013 and November last year.

Leicester Crown Court was told that Crowie, of Belton Road, Loughborough, was arrested after the police received a tip off via a Canadian website that he had been chatting on-line about children sexually.

He was traced through his mobile phone.

Philip Gibbs, prosecuting, said: “He told the police it was a waste of time because they couldn’t prove anything when they investigated him in 2012, which did not result in any charges.

“His online account showed his profile on a babysitting website offering his services to five families and claiming to have qualifications and experience.”

His offending related to the possession of three category A images and one movie clip, a category B image, 20 category C images, 26 prohibited pseudo images and two pictures of extreme pornography.

Sentencing Judge Ebraham Mooncey said: “Your offending came to light as a result of information from a Canadian internet company.

“It was suspected you were using a mobile phone and chatting to others about the sexual abuse of children.

“You used ‘pure lawbreaker’ as your tagline.

“There’s evidence about a babysitter chat line that you were a party to.”

However, Crowie was not charged in relation to the chat line.

Judge Mooncey said: “When you were 14 you tried to incite a female under 13 to perform a sexual act.

“Because of your age you were given supervision, and between 2007 and 2009 you were given help about these kind of matters; about sexuality and the rights and wrongs of it until you were 16.

“When you were arrested in November last year you told the police it was a waste of time and they couldn’t prove anything last time, during a 2012 investigation.

“Although you have difficulties, including ADHD, it seems you had an understanding that what you were doing was wrong.

“These images show horrendous things happening to young children who are being abused and their whole lives are being affected.

“A deterrent message must go out that viewing such images of children being abuse like that cannot be tolerated.”

Crowie was placed on a sexual harm prevention order and will have to enlist on a sex offender register.

Jonathan Straw, mitigating, said Crowie had a difficult upbringing and suffered abuse as a child, which he did not use as an excuse.

He said: “Perhaps it gives some insight as to why he entertained the need to view these images.

“He wants to be helped and the professional services feel he can be helped.

“There may have been a degree of bravado when the police went to arrest him, when he tried to divert the police in their investigation.

“Once the material was recovered he entered realistic guilty pleas.

“These matters happened more than a year ago and his partner has stuck by him.

 

Anthony O’Donoghue – Glasgow

13 Tuesday Oct 2015

Posted by in Glasgow, Operation Spade, Social worker

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October 2015

Retired social worker caught with stolen files on abused children & CSA images

A retired social worker caught with stolen case files on abused children and a haul of indecent images has avoided jail.

Anthony O’Donoghue stole confidential files, relating to vulnerable children and adults, during his 18-year career with the Social Work Department between 1988 and 2006.

His theft of the files, which dated from the 1980s and 90s, only came to light during a probe into an international paedophile ring.

O’Donoghue swiped the files from social work offices across Glasgow while working as a temporary care officer and a community work assistant.

The 62-year-old was snared by police investigating paedophile ring in March last year after arriving at his home in Renfrew to carry out a search.

Their search also unexpectedly turned up a bag and a suitcase stuffed with the confidential records, which were labeled Strathclyde Regional Council Social Work.

Among the papers was a typed letter relating to a young boy who had been spanked by his uncle, along with guidance books on sex offending and sex abuse.

Police investigated further, receiving confirmation that the files were genuine and were the property of Strathclyde Regional Council.

Officials within the Social Work Department were unaware the files, which O’Donoghue should not have had, were missing from the relevant departments.

During his employment O’Donoghue worked at Windlaw Aged Persons Home, in Castlemilk, in Glasgow’s south side.

He also worked at offices in Ruchill Street, in the north of the city’s Ruchill, and Dalness Street, in Tollcross, in the east end.

O’Donoghue’s position within the organisation also meant he had access to other social work offices.

Police came to search O’Donoghue’s home in Renfrew in the belief that he had indecent DVDs on the property.

It is thought he was identified as someone who had child abuse images due to purchases he made online, from the now-defunct website http://www.azovfilms.com.

The films were from a Canadian-based website which sold DVDs marketed as being naturist films, many of which featured underage boys. The Canadian authorities deemed the films sold by the website to be of an indecent nature.

The website was taken down and is now being investigated as part of a global probe into the sexual exploitation of children. O’Donoghue made nine purchases from AZOV films but a total of 16 DVDs were found in his tenement flat.

The DVDs were all categorised at being level one or two on the scale which is used to grade how extreme child porn is.

Most of the DVDs lasted well over an hour and showed naked boys aged between seven and 18. All but one of the DVDs were found on the floor in O’Donoghue’s bedroom.

O’Donoghue was arrested over the DVDs and stolen social work files and later appeared at Paisley Sheriff Court charged with possession of indecent images and stealing the files.

He pleaded guilty to the charges earlier this year and returned to the dock on Tuesday to be sentenced.

Sheriff James Spy placed him on a probation order telling him he will be supervised by social workers for the next three years.

As part of the probation order he also has to carry out 180 hours’ unpaid work, was placed on the sex offenders register for three years, and has to work with an organisation that helps sex offenders in Renfrewshire.

O’Donoghue was also banned from owning any device which can access the internet unless getting permission from his supervisors and was banned from having any contact with anyone under the age of 16.