UK database, Exeter (2026)

04/06/2026

A baby alleged to have been murdered by a teacher who claimed the child accidentally drowned in a bath was found to be not wet and had dry hair, a court heard.

Jamie Varley, 37, claims he left his "happy, smiley, giggly" adopted 13-month-old son, Preston Davey, in the bath for two or three minutes and returned to find him submerged – an account prosecutors allege is made up to cover his s*xual abuse and murder of the child.

His partner and co-accused, John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, told Preston Crown Court when he returned home to Blackpool from work, Varley was trying to revive their son.

Both men deny a s*xual interest in the baby and all charges relating to his death.

Warning: The following court evidence contains distressing information

Cross-examining, prosecutor Peter Wright KC asked McGowan-Fazakerley: "Well, his hair was not wet?"

McGowan-Fazakerley replied: "I can't recall it being wet. I remember it being sort of quite tight locks. Preston was not wet, put it that way."

Wright said: "Shall we try again? His hair wasn't wet, was it?"

The defendant replied: "No. Jay told me what had happened. I just remember him saying, 'He was in his bath seat and then he wasn't'.

"I didn't think, 'A bath has not happened. This is not right'."

Wright continued: "Dry hair. Towels on the floor, dry body. Wearing a nappy. Being told he had been in a bath seat."

The defendant said: "When I entered that house I was absolutely terrified, that I entered a scene I did not expect to see.

"I was shocked, I was trying to help him and trying to get him the medical attention he needed as soon as I possibly could do."

They rushed the child to hospital where medical staff noted the child did not cough up water during an hour-long attempt at resuscitation.

A post-mortem examination ruled out death by drowning and found 40 external and internal injuries to the child's body, consistent with "forcible pe*******on" and s*xual abuse.

Wright suggested the two defendants had "put your heads together" and were "covering up for each other".

McGowan-Fazakerley replied: "No. I would never cover up over the safety of my child."

Earlier, the court heard Preston, a "sweet and bubbly" baby boy, was adopted by the couple in April 2023.

However, prosecutors allege that during the four months Preston was living at their Blackpool home he was routinely ill-treated, had indecent images and videos taken of him, was s*xually abused and physically assaulted.

The cause of Preston's death was found to be acute upper airways obstruction by either smothering or an object or objects inserted into his mouth.

Preston was used as a "plaything" for the "amusement" of the defendants, Wright told jurors.

Varley denies murder, manslaughter, two counts of assault by pe*******on, five counts of cruelty to a child, grievous bodily harm, s*xual assault of a child, 13 counts of taking indecent photos or videos of a child, one of distributing an indecent photo of a child, to his co-accused, and one of making an indecent photo.

McGowan-Fazakerley denies allowing the death of a child, three counts of child cruelty and one count of the s*xual assault of a child.

The trial continues on Monday.....

04/06/2026

A teenager who targeted children in Ess*x has been jailed.

South Wales Police said the case, known as Operation Heleia, uncovered a series of serious online offences involving victims across multiple areas, including Ess*x.

Kyle Fisher, 19, of Heol Islwyn, Tonyrefail, was sentenced to 14 years in prison at Cardiff Crown Court after being convicted of multiple offences against children.

The investigation began in 2024 after allegations emerged about Fisher’s online activity.

He was arrested in February and again in September that year as officers uncovered offences affecting victims aged between 10 and 15 across several police force areas, including Ess*x, Kent, Devon and Cornwall.

Fisher manipulated victims into engaging in acts with household pets and used manipulation, threats and blackmail to coerce victims into producing indecent images and videos.

In some cases, he threatened to hack victims’ social media accounts or harm himself if they did not comply.

Officers seized a mobile phone during his initial arrest, which revealed thousands of messages sent to victims.

Investigators said the content included threats, coercion and disturbing instructions, with some victims reporting they were pressured into harmful acts.

In one instance, Fisher shared explicit images of a victim online alongside their name and contact details.

As enquiries progressed, officers identified up to 200 potential victims nationwide.

Nineteen were confirmed as victims of serious s*xual offences following detailed analysis of digital evidence, with support provided by police forces across the UK, including Ess*x Police.

While on police bail, Fisher was monitored by Youth Offending Services, Probation and the Management of S*x Offenders and Violent Offenders (MOSOVO) due to concerns about his risk.

Further searches of his home in March 2025 uncovered an internet-enabled Nintendo 3DS.

Officers found a concerning search history which included be******ty and 22 extreme pornographic images, which formed part of the wider case against him.

He was arrested again in May 2025 following further device examinations, leading to additional charges.

Following a full court process, Fisher was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment

04/06/2026

A pa******le found in possession of abhorrent child r**e images has been spared jail

Lucy Dean, who Chester Crown Court heard is a transgender woman, downloaded more than 1,000 images of child s*xual abuse images onto the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 device over a two year period, Cavendish Press reported.

The 27-year-old was arrested at home in Macclesfield in June last year after officers from Cheshire Police's online child abuse investigation team received intelligence that her email and IP addresses had been used to upload indecent images of children.

Inquiries showed Dean had 306 images in the most serious category A, including 224 videos, some of which showed babies in severe distress being s*xually assaulted.

Officers also found 173 images in category B, including 53 videos and 525 images in category C, of which 48 were videos, as well as six prohibited images of a child, images that were said to not be actual children.

Appearing in court last Wednesday (May 27), Dean faced three years in jail under sentencing guidelines after admitting one charge of possession of prohibited images of a child and three charges of making indecent images of children, in category A, B and C between August 2023 and June 2025.

The defendant was sentenced to 16 months in jail, suspended for two years, along with requirements to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work, after telling a judge she had paid for private counselling to address her behaviour.

Appearing unrepresented after being refused legal aid, Dean, told judge Michael Leeming she had paid for private counselling to address the offences.

Earlier, prosecutor Mr Peter Hussey told the court that the investigation into Dean followed police intelligence. "It was an early knock on the door that the defendant received. Police gave the defendant the email address they were investigating.

"The defendant then complied with a search and provided access to the devices seized. A forensic report of her phone showed over the preceding couple of years, the defendant had been using an encryption application and the dark web in order to access indecent images of children and also a handful of prohibited images of children.

"The images had been stored on the phone's internal gallery. The Onion Ring internet browser used often to access the dark web had also been installed on the phone.

"There was evidence as well of the kind of internet search terms that had been used by the defendant in order to seek out this type of material. It is self-evident from some of these search terms that the defendant was seeking out paedophilia material.

“There were images of babies being s*xually abused, some clearly in distress. This is serious offending of its type. The case is aggravated by the very young age of some of those depicted in the images, their distress and the fact there is a large collection of moving content.''

Dean admitted wrongdoing at police interview and was was also ordered to complete 30 days of rehabilitation activity and must sign the S*x Offender Register for 10 years and be subject of a ten year s*xual harm prevention order (SHPO).

The device, a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 phone, was also confiscated. Police can apply to extend the SHPO at the end of the 10 year period if they believe Dean poses a risk.

04/06/2026

A "wolf in sheep's clothing" pa******le has been jailed after pleading guilty to seven charges of abusing three schoolboys.

Former teacher Chris Fox, 39, from Pinehurst in Swindon, previously worked at various schools in the town and ran an archery school called Black Cat Archery.

On Thursday Fox was jailed for more than five years at Swindon Crown Court by Judge Jason Taylor, and given four more years on licence.

Fox - who even lied that he had cancer to gain trust - admitted to the charges of engaging in s*xual activity with a child on 13 April.

The sentencing was told his crimes were committed against teenage boys in 2017, 2021 and 2022

Statements from his victims were read out at the sentencing hearing, with one describing him as "parasitic".

The judge said Fox had befriended the boys and gained their trust, even offering them alcohol, vapes and condoms. He also lied, saying he had testicular cancer.

Judge Taylor added Fox "cynically and manipulatively took advantage of the relationships" for s*xual gratification.

He said he could not accept that Fox, who he described as a "predatory wolf in sheep's clothing" was "genuinely remorseful".

"Your belief that you were merely inappropriate is concerning. You targeted three separate boys over years and I think would have continued," the judge said.

"You pose a significant risk to teenage boys in the possible commission of further offences."

One victim - who said they had spent nearly three years in therapy - said his encounters with Fox were his "first experience of s*x and love" which he cannot get back. He said Fox also had turned him against his own family.

Another described the toll it had taken on his mental health, including causing anxiety attacks.

He added: "I trusted him [Fox] and he took advantage of me. No matter how many times people tell me it's not my fault, I still feel it."

That victim said he had kept his suffering a secret for many years, and was left feeling "alone, trapped, stupid and naive".

Another victim, who Fox gave money to, said he would always be reminded that "he was giving me things that my parents couldn't".

He added he had been made to believe he was "special" at primary school, but then things became s*xual when he was older. He was scared to tell his parents how "this person we trusted did these things to me" and "felt such a relief" when he spoke to the police.

04/06/2026

An Egyptian man has been jailed for more than four years after travelling from the Midlands to Ess*x to have s*x with an underage girl.

Tarek Elshendi, 35, of Moseley Road in Birmingham, pleaded guilty to seven child s*x offences at Basildon Crown Court in January after being snared by vigilante pa******le hunters.

It turned out he had been talking to multiple fictitious children, each the construct of different vigilante groups.

Elshendi was arrested by Ess*x Police when he travelled to Harlow intending to meet one of the underage girls he thought he had been chatting to.

He was instead met by internet vigilantes who broadcast themselves confronting him on social media.

“When the arrest is live streamed on Facebook, there is a flood of other vigilante groups who report his activities – so of course, that must give rise to serious concerns,” prosecutor Philippa Page told the court in January.

Elshendi pleaded guilty to four counts of attempting s*xual communication with a person under the age of 16.

Each charge related to a different decoy child he had communicated with.

He also admitted attempting to meet a child following s*xual grooming and two charges of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child s*xual offence.

All seven crimes were committed in the space of two-and-a-half weeks in August last year.

Judge Richard Conley warned Elshendi in January that a lengthy prison sentence seemed inevitable.

He made good on that promise when the pa******le returned for sentence on Thursday (April 30).

Judge Conley sentenced him to four-and-a-half years in prison.

Mitigating barrister Jessica Peck said in January that her client had already been informed that he would likely serve 30% of any prison sentence before being deported back to Egypt.

He would not contest the deportation, she said, as he “wants to return as soon as possible”.

Although he likely faces deportation straight from custody, Judge Conley informed him that he would be subject to the usual s*x offender notification requirements and would be barred from working with children or vulnerable people.

He also imposed a ten-year S*xual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) placing strict restrictions on Elshendi’s use of internet-enable devices and ability to interact with children.

04/06/2026

A dangerous pa******le who plotted to meet and s*xually abuse a nine year old girl in Exeter has been jailed.

Lee Blatchford, formerly known as Lee Jowett, turned up at a cafe in the city centre with a rucksack full of 'kit' ready to abuse a nine-year-old girl.

He arranged a meeting after chatting online with a woman he thought was the child's mum. He called it a 'first date'.

But he didn't know the mum was really an undercover police officer and the 'child' did not exist. He was arrested at the scene.

Blatchford, aged 46, is a convicted pa******le who was jailed for an almost identical offence in Somerset 10 years ago.

Exeter Crown Court was told he has been obsessed with child abuse for his adult life.

He pleaded guilty to arranging penetrative s*xual activity with a child and intentionally encouraging a child s*x assault.

He received an extended sentence of 10 years. The judge said he was a long-time and dangerous pa******le.

Kelly Scrivener, prosecuting, said Blatchford started exchanging messages via an adult social networking site at the end of January this year.

He talked enthusiastically to the 'mum' about abusing her daughter, saying women couldn't cope with his 'kinks'.

He suggested they meet up, sent sick videos and asked the 'mum' to record abuse.

Blatchford turned up at the cafe thinking he was going to meet a real mum and daughter and carrying a bag containing various items. They included a digital camera for filming and overnight clothing. He was arrested at the scene.

The defendant, of High Street, Honiton, has two relevant previous convictions. In 2017 he was jailed for three years and four months for arranging a child s*x offence.

Probation assess him as a high risk to children of both s*xes.

"He needs help to stop what he's become," said Mary Aspinall-Miles, mitigating.

Judge David Evans, who sentenced the defendant, then known as Jowett, in 2017, said the defendant had told the court he had 'woken up' to the harm caused by his crimes.

But he had not been honest, minimised his offending and remained dangerous.

He imposed a sentence of six years and nine months, at least two thirds of which will need to be served in prison. What is left of the ten years will be served on licence after his release.

04/06/2026

Pervert who ran the Pauls Discount school uniform shop in Southchurch Road, Southend convicted of abusing three girls

Southend businessman Michael Binder has been jailed for s*xually abusing a series of girls he met through his family's school uniform shop.

Binder, 44, of Bournes Green Chase in Shoebury, was convicted of five s*xual offences against three victims, all of whom he encountered through the Pauls Discount store in Southchurch Road.

At the time, Binder - in his late 20s when the offending began - was running what was previously his parents' business, also known as Pauls School Wear and Uniform Shop.

Binder, who has also worked in the past as a DJ, pleaded guilty to engaging in s*xual acts with a 15-year-old girl and making s*xual videos with a 16-year-old.

He was later convicted by a jury of s*xually assaulting a 14-year-old girl as well, after luring her into his stock room.

Prosecutor Richard Scott told Binder's sentencing hearing at Basildon Crown Court on Tuesday (June 2) that he had exhibited "grooming behaviour".

Sentencing him to five years in prison, Recorder Clark said Binder had committed "a series of appalling offending against children."

"A jury saw through your lies," he said.

Binder pleaded guilty to three out of five child s*x abuse charges when he appeared at Basildon Crown Court in 2025.

He then pleaded guilty to a fourth before his trial started in 2026.

However, a reporting restriction banned the press from reporting those guilty pleas, so as not to prejudice jurors in his trial over the one count he was contesting.

That count related to the first and youngest of his victims - a girl who believed she was 14 years old when he assaulted her.

Now an adult, she told the jury how Binder pulled up her Facebook profile in the shop and commented on the length of her shorts in a photograph, saying she looked like she was "asking for it".

He led her to the stock room above Pauls Discount and told her they would play a game, seeing whether she could memorise the various schools and their uniforms.

When she complained that her back was aching, he told her he used to be a masseuse, came up behind her, pulled her towards him and pressed his groin into her bottom.

Her mother testified that she remembered her daughter coming home "distraught" and disclosing the incident.

The mum said she confronted Binder at the shop the following morning - which he denied under oath, telling the jury he massaged the girl but didn't s*xually assault her.

However, they convicted him by a majority of 10-2.

Only after that verdict were they told he had already pleaded guilty to four child s*x offences.

One female juror burst into sobs at the revelation.

After winning a reporting restriction argument against defence barrister Michael McAlinden, the press could finally report that Binder had three victims, not just one.

The second was a 16-year-old with whom he had an illicit relationship and filmed s*xual videos.

Whilst a 16-year-old can legally consent to s*x, it is illegal to create s*xual images of them.

The third victim was a 15-year-old girl he engaged in s*xual activity with.

Mr McAlinden said his client had "led, effectively, a positive, blameless, productive family life" for around a decade after these offences were committed.

"What we have is a married man with two young children, aged four and seven, whose lives are going to be devastated by him being sent to prison," the barrister argued.

"His wife has got to deal with everything that's happened over the last four years - the constant scrutiny, people talking about this, putting things that are not true on the internet about it, hanging around court - when she has done nothing wrong."

Binder wrote a letter of apology to the court, saying: "I regret these actions every day."

But Recorder Clark said a probation pre-sentence report found Binder's remorse "limited", with the defendant exhibiting "a pattern of minimisation and partial denial".

Binder nodded at his family and mouthed the words, "I'm alright, I'm alright," as he was sent down.

He will serve up to 40% of his five-year sentence before being released on licence.

Upon release, he will be subject to lifelong s*x offender notification requirements and a lifelong S*xual Harm Prevention Order.

04/06/2026

A “prolific” south Ess*x pa******le has been jailed for more than two years after being caught with images of necrophilia

The illegal po*******hy showed s*xual interference with human corpses.

Nathaniel Humphreys, 31, of Surbiton Avenue, Southend, was found in possession of 36 indecent images of children, 551 prohibited images and two extreme pornographic images.

They were found after the already twice-convicted s*x offender told his monitoring officer he had deleted apps from his phone – something he was banned from doing by a S*xual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

Humphreys was first convicted of indecent images offences in 2022, then again in 2025.

He appeared at Basildon Crown Court via prison video link on Wednesday (June 3) to be sentenced for his third set of s*xual offences.

The images this time had in fact all been downloaded during the course of those two prior investigations, said prosecutor Mark Tomassi, but were only recently discovered.

In both prior cases, Humphreys continued downloading illegal images in the period between being arrested and being sentenced – unbeknownst to the authorities.

His bail conditions had not prevented him from obtaining new devices while those investigations were underway.

The images in the latest case were found across three devices.

“The defendant, I’m afraid to say, is prolific in his misuse of computers and the downloading of images,” said Mr Tomassi.

“The images that are in the new indictment are particularly concerning.”

The new charges revealed “the almost routine downloading of indecent images of children”, he said, but also unearthed Humphreys’ accessing of extreme pornographic images.

One showed s*xual interference with a cadaver and the other depicted an act which “threatened someone’s life”.

That represented “an escalation” in Humphreys’ offending, he said.

A probation pre-sentence report said Humphreys’ risk “cannot be adequately treated short of imprisonment”, the prosecutor added.

In 2022, after his first conviction, Humphreys was given a five-year SHPO restricting his internet use.

After his second conviction last year he received six months in prison, suspended for 18 months.

Sentencing him on Wednesday, Recorder Peter Clark activated most of that sentence, saying Humphreys’ compliance with it had been “poor”.

“The offending on the new indictment that I am dealing with today is clearly far greater in severity and gravity, in terms of the number of offences and also the nature of them,” he said.

He jailed Humphreys for 20 months for all the indecent, prohibited and extreme images, four months consecutive for breaching his SHPO, and five months consecutive of the prior suspended sentence.

That gave a total sentence of 29 months.

He will therefore be required to sign the s*x offenders register for 10 years. His SHPO was extended for another 10 years to match.

03/06/2026

‼️STILL MISSING - PLEASE SHARE‼️Holly Collinson … UPDATE | Police remain concerned for the welfare of a 29-year-old missing woman who was last seen in Cornwall.

Holly Collinson was last seen leaving Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro on Tuesday 31 March at 10.10am.

We are continuing to try and establish her movements since that time and want to hear from anyone who may have seen her when she left the hospital.

She was wearing a hospital gown, a green jumper and trainers with black and yellow bags underneath used as socks. She had a white plastic bag with her and a black guitar.

We anticipate that Holly may have changed her clothing after leaving the hospital, but we are keen to hear from anyone who may have seen anyone matching this description or have any information which may help our enquiries.

She may also be using a crutch to assist her.

She is described as a white female, of slim built, 5ft 7ins in height and with blue eyes.

When she was last seen, Holly had straight dark hair with the upper half of the hair plum to red in colour and darker on the bottom half which was below shoulder length.

Since our first appeal we have received a number of calls from the public with possible sightings of Holly but these have so far not led us to locate her. We’d like to thank everyone who has reported information and ask that the public continue to do so.

Holly has links to Bude, Newquay and Truro.

We are also appealing for the public to check any dash cam footage if they were in the Truro area on Tuesday 31 March and for anybody who has seen Holly or knows of her whereabouts is asked to call 999 quoting log 733 of Friday 1 May.

03/06/2026

A ra**st has been sentenced after a woman stumbled upon a disturbing 25-minute recording on an obsolete mobile phone.

Warren Conn was arrested in January when the harrowing footage came to light on the disused device.

Police investigations subsequently uncovered that the s*x offender, who had filmed himself perpetrating a s*xual assault on a woman, was also in possession of a "large quantity" of indecent images of children.

The attack had taken place years earlier while Conn was living in Sandwich, Kent.

The victim had no memory of being recorded and had not consented to any of the s*xual activity captured in the material.

A thorough digital forensic analysis exposed further recordings which proved Conn had r**ed her.

He was eventually detained by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) at his home in County Armagh, where he'd moved following his spell in Kent.

During a search of his property, officers recovered two mobile phones and a laptop, which were seized and handed over to Kent Police's Digital Forensics Unit.

Examination of the equipment revealed a large quantity of indecent images of children. PSNI officers handed Conn over to Kent Police officers in Belfast, and he was flown back to Kent where enquiries pressed on

The 50 year old was remanded in custody and later charged with 15 s*xual offences, including r**e and possessing indecent images of children.

After three interviews spanning two days, he admitted to the crimes and entered guilty pleas to all counts, reports Belfast Live.

On Thursday, May 28, Conn, previously of Kings Park Mews, Lurgan, was handed a 14-year jail term at Canterbury Crown Court.

UK database

04/06/2026

04/06/2026

04/06/2026

04/06/2026

04/06/2026

04/06/2026

04/06/2026

04/06/2026

03/06/2026

03/06/2026

Address

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share

Category