SHAME SHAME
HARTLEPOOL DRUGS GANG JAILED FOR 26 YEARS
The organised gang behind one of Hartle- pool’s biggest drugs rings has been given jail sentences totalling more than 26 years. Police raids at the end of last year smashed a drugs network worth up to £400,000. The five men all plead- ed guilty to conspiring to supply cocaine, cannabis and amphet- amine at Teesside Crown Court. They were sentenced after the court heard the group had run a
“sophisticated opera- tion” between March 7 and September 7 last year. Craig Wilson, the for- mer Hoda 26 taxi boss was named as the ringleader of the gang and was given six years
and eight
months behind bars. The court was told he turned to supplying class A and B drugs after his business ven- tures ran into trouble. The others were sen- tenced to between four and five years in
jail. Harry Hadfield, prose- cuting, said the gang’s dealings first came to light when a resident told police two men were acting suspi- ciously in Hutton Avenue. This led offi- cers to discover a huge cannabis farm at number 52 and at number 50 more plants, equipment and packets of cocaine and amphetamine. Murphy had been staying in the proper- ties.
FACEBOOK CHAT LEADS TO CAPTURE OF DEVON CHILD ABUSER
A child abuser has been jailed after his three victims came together on Facebook to share their memo- ries of his assaults. Taxi driver Roger Poul- ton abused the girls in Ifracombe during the 1980s and 1990s. But they all kept their suf- fering secret until one of them mentioned it in a Facebook chat. The other two then came forward to say they had suffered simi- lar humiliating assaults. According to the North Devon Journal, Poul- ton, 53, was jailed for eight years after a judge branded him a
liar who had groomed and exploited the girls for his own sexual gratification. Retired cabbie Poulton was found guilty by a jury at Exeter Crown Court of 11 offences of indecent assault or gross indecency in the 1980s and 1990s when he was living in Ifra- combe. Judge Graham Cottle told him: “You system- atically abused these children. Your behav- iour was
clearly
inappropriate and there was evidence of groom- ing and manipulation. “You viewed them as sexual objects who
were there to be used as you wished to achieve your own sex- ual gratification. ” During a five day trial earlier this year the jury heard that two of the victims were molested when they were aged around ten. Poulton abused them when he acted as babysitter. The third victim was 15 and was groped by him after they met in Ifracombe. The offences hap- pened between 1986 and 1994 but the vic- tims only went to the police after exchang- ing confidences on Facebook in 2010.
TEEN LEFT CRITICAL IN TAXI CRASH NEAR BIRMINGHAM CLUB
A teenager was left fighting for his life after he was knocked down by a taxi outside a popular Birmingham nightspot. The 19-year-old suf- fered serious leg and head injuries in the accident, which hap- pened outside the 02 Academy at Horsefair in the city centre just after midnight on 27
May. He was rushed by ambulance to the Queen Elizabeth Hos- pital where
his
condition was said to be “critical”. West Mid- lands Police appealed for any witnesses who saw the collision to come forward. A force spokeswoman told the Sunday Mercu- ry: “A private hire
vehicle was in collision with a 19-year-old male pedestrian. The in- jured man was taken to hospital with seri- ous leg and head injuries and is in a crit- ical condition. Police are appealing for any witnesses to the collision to contact them.
Witnesses
should call police at Perry Barron 101.
TAMWORTH DRIVER DOWNLOADED IMAGES OF DISGUSTING SCENES
A taxi driver from Tam- worth downloaded more than 12,000 “dis- gusting”
images of children and “extreme” pornogra- phy. Police carried out a search raid on the home of Robert Bind- ing in October last year and seized his computer. Appearing
before
Stafford Crown Court on Wednesday June 6, he admitted four charges of making indecent
images of
children and one of possessing extreme pornography. Mr Pat Sullivan, prose- cuting, told the court how an examination of the
hard drive
revealed a total of 2,076 images of chil-
indecent
dren, including 99 at a more serious level four. But in addition there were 12,212 pictures of adults performing sex acts in a type of pornography that is now illegal to view or possess. According to the Tam- worth Herald,
the
64-year-old was given a three-year communi- ty order to undergo a sex offender treatment programme
“For about two years, you were also down- loading
extreme
pornography - adults doing
disgusting
things. I accept your shame and self dis- gust are genuine - you are not a danger to the public.” The judge added that there was a choice between a short but ineffective prison sen- tence or
and
ordered to register with the police as a sex offender for the next five years. Judge Simon Tonking told him: “For a period of about four years you made indecent photographs of chil- dren by downloading them from the internet.
supervision and treat- ment. “It is in the public inter- est
long-term to make a
three-year community order.” Mr Michael Grey, defending, said Bind- ing, from Wilnecote, had had to hand in his licence as a taxi driver as a result of these offences.
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PHTM JULY 2012
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