Paedophile ex-nightclub owner whose venues
hosted the Who and Rolling Stones jailed for
child sex abuse
Ronald Pickstock's son said he twice tried to report his father's crimes, but police did not investigate
BY ALEX SCAPENS
The owner of a string of nightclubs which hosted stars including Jimi Hendrix, The Who and the Rolling Stones has been jailed for sickening child sex abuse.
Reginald Pickstock, 87, used the venues he operated to pick out and exploit vulnerable youngsters in the Sixties and Seventies.
His son - who claims he twice tried to report the paedophile to police - said Pickstock's status protected him from being brought to justice, the Manchester Evening News reports.
The predator has been jailed for 10-and-a-half years after being found guilty of 22 counts of indecent assault following a trial at Minshull Street Crown Court.
Some of the abuse dated back to the 1950s.
Pickstock was well-known around Stockport for running clubs such as Manor Lounge, the Tabernacle and Blazers.
Before his abuse came to light Pickstock’s venues were the place to be for youngsters in the 1960s and top acts - also including Jimi Hendrix and Rod Stewart - appeared there in front of adoring fans.
Pickstock's son Keith (pictured) said he twice attempted to inform police about his father's crimes (Image: MEN Media)
But Pickstock’s son Keith, 53, who was not a victim but gave evidence at the trial, says he twice tried to report his dad to the police but was sent packing.
Keith, a lorry driver, said: “I went to Stockport police station to try and report it in the late 80s and early 90s and was told to go away.
“They said if I came back again I would be locked up. My dad owned a lot of nightclubs and he was looked after.
“If he walked through Stockport everyone would come up and say hello to him, he was very well known because of his clubs."
The Manor Lounge, one of the clubs he owned, in its 1960s heyday (Image: MEN Media)
“I believe he did it to attract young girls, I guessed. He got away with it for so long. I am just relieved he has been jailed, he is an evil, manipulative person.
"One reason I am talking about this is because I wonder how many others there were.”
The charges Pickstock, of Church Lane, was found guilty of relate to three girls. He first appeared at Stockport Magistrates Court in relation to them in September last year.
Until his arrest Pickstock remained a respected figure because of his background in the music industry.
He even supported a campaign to get a blue plaque at the site of the now demolished Tabernacle.
Former clergyman from Leeds had begged victims of child sex abuse not to tell police
A former clergyman from Leeds has been jailed for six years after admitting sexually abusing underage girls as long ago as the 1950s.
The ex-Church of England minister had pleaded guilty to 25 charges of indecent assault at an earlier hearing on August 29.
Lincoln Crown Court today heard that the married clergyman, who formerly worked in the Diocese of Lincoln, committed the offences between 1955 and 1982.
He also wrote letters to his victims, begging them not to go to the police.
Bailey had recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia and the judge admitted the pensioner would find it “harder than many” in prison.
He assaulted his first victim during a four-year period in the 1950s, then abused two more between the mid-1970s and early 1980s.
Bailey, wearing a grey jacket, dark blue shirt and a blue and white spotted tie, sat in the dock and looked straight ahead he was sentenced. Judge Simon Hurst told him: “I have had the advantage of reading victim impact statements and it is clear that in their different ways, they were all profoundly affected by your abuse of them.
“You did it for no other reason other than to gain sexual gratification for yourself.”
Bailey was arrested during Lincolnshire Police’s Operation Redstone, which started in October 2015 and followed a review of past safeguarding cases by the Diocese of Lincoln.
Chris Moran, defending, said Bailey clearly wanted to “express remorse” but at the same time admitted there was “a degree of somebody who doesn’t want to be reported to police”. Mr Moran said: “Other than this offending he is a man who is known as a caring, responsible individual - a dependable one in many ways.”
There is no 'other than' for child sex abusers. What they do is cruel and evil and nothing they ever do can change that. They may seek and even receive forgiveness from their victims and even from God, but they can never be considered good people.
Bailey was told he would have to register his movements with police for the rest of his life, under the Sexual Offences Act.
After the sentence, Detective Superintendent Richard Hatton said: “The sentence today reflects the breach of trust that John Bailey has shown in terms of his position as an ordained minister in the Church of England."
Mr Hatton said the investigation was one of several into the recent safeguarding concerns raised by the Dicoese of Lincoln.
In a statement issued afterwards, the Bishop of Lincoln, the Rt Rev Christopher Lowson, said: “It is hard to express the impact that John Bailey’s appalling crimes must have had on the lives of the survivors of his abuse and on their families. I wish to pay tribute to their courage in bringing him to justice."
“I would also like to thank the police for their work on this case and for their continued commitment to Operation Redstone, which was established in response to detailed case reviews carried out by the bishop’s safeguarding team."
“I want to reassure everyone that our safeguarding work in the diocese includes mandatory training and background checks for all clergy and church officers.
“The public are fully entitled and deserve to expect the highest conduct from clergy, who promised solemnly at their ordination to order their lives according to the way of Jesus Christ.
“We continue to work in partnership with the police and statutory authorities and will leave no stone unturned in bringing to light crimes which have, for whatever reason, remained hidden.”
Man cleared of child sex offences is jailed for going missing during his trial
Anthony McQuade was found not guilty - but had earlier skipped bail :: He has now been given six months jail
Is it just me, or is it passing strange that an innocent man would bolt from his trial and disappear?
BY GARETH LIGHTFOOT
A man accused of child sex offences who went missing in the middle of his trial has been jailed for skipping bail.
Anthony McQuade, 53, was found safe and well after he was found not guilty by a jury, but was still in trouble for absconding. He disappeared while he was being tried at Teesside Crown Court, leading to a police appeal for information.
He denied nine charges - five of rape, two of indecent assault, one of indecency with a child and one of assault causing actual bodily harm. On Monday a jury found him not guilty of all charges, reaching unanimous verdicts after just over three-and-a-half hours’ consideration.
The allegations of grooming, sexual abuse and violence concerned a boy more than 15 years ago. McQuade, of Corporation Road, Redcar, denied that any of the alleged incidents happened and told police he never sexually abused the boy. He vanished before he had the chance to give evidence.
The trial continued in his absence as a judge found he had “voluntarily absented himself” from the proceedings. A warrant was issued for his arrest amid extensive police inquiries. The verdicts were delivered without him in the courtroom.
The judge, Recorder Jamie Hill QC, told jurors after the trial’s conclusion: “I’m not too sure where the defendant is at the moment. The police have been looking for him. In due course when the bench warrant is executed the defendant will have to be dealt with.”
McQuade was then found safe and well in Redcar. He appeared back in court on the arrest warrant, and admitted breaching his bail. Judge Howard Crowson jailed him for six months on Wednesday.
In the trial Nigel Soppitt, defending, told the jury the case boiled down to one person’s word against another’s. He argued the prosecution evidence was not reliable or credible.
He told jurors: “It’s an easy allegation to make. It’s an unstoppable allegation. It’s been almost a two-year waking nightmare for this man.”
Last week, prosecutor Robin Patton said McQuade had been reported as a “high-risk” missing person. Police said he was spotted in the Houghton-le-Spring area at 1.37am last Thursday.
The judge said he left his home the previous day and his phone seemed to have been switched off later. “Further inquiries indicated he took various items with him including a tent and alcohol. But since then there have been no sightings,” he added.
In an attempt to help trace him amid growing concerns, police appealed for information about McQuade’s whereabouts. It was later confirmed he had been found.
Canberra man who planned to sexually abuse children charged in undercover sting
Megan Gorrey
A Canberra man who planned to sexually abuse children overseas when he was caught by an undercover cop, who posed as an English mother pimping out her three children online, told police he'd spoken of molesting them "purely as a fantasy".
Federal police arrested Nathan Sertori, 36, at Sydney Airport and stopped him boarding an international flight after a tip-off from INTERPOL sparked an investigation from Australian child protection officers in June 2016.
Sertori had planned to fight the charges but later pleaded guilty in the ACT Supreme Court to planning to have sex with a child outside Australia and transmitting child pornography. He faced court for a sentence hearing on Thursday.
The case is believed to be the first time the Commonwealth offence of planning to abuse a child overseas has been prosecuted in the ACT.
Court documents said Sertori had online conversations, which began on an incest website, with an undercover British police officer posing as "Sadie" about plans to meet in London and sexually abuse the woman's three children in late July.
In a series of explicit exchanges, he spoke of plans to have sex with the woman and abuse her two daughters, aged 12 and 14, and her son, aged 10.
"The accused had a particular interest in Sadie's daughters," the documents said.
Police who investigated the man's online profile, under the username of "Dtyungman", discovered he also belonged to teen sex and child rape online discussion boards.
An IP address was used to track the online profile to Sertori's family home in Holt. Police matched his online profile description with images on social media and his passport photograph. He was arrested after Australian Border Force officials alerted police Sertori had flown out of Canberra and was booked on a flight with his mother from Sydney to Dubai on July 12.
In a police interview, Sertori admitted he'd contacted a woman online about engaging in sexual activities with her two daughters and said she'd offered her son for him to rape. He said he knew the children were all younger than 18.
But he told police he asked the woman about having sex with her children "purely as a fantasy" and had no intention of meeting up with them in London. He said he also planned to travel to Paris and Copenhagen with his mother.
He'd asked for photos but planned to send them to police, court documents said. He was charged when the interview finished.
During a search of his home the next day, police seized his computer and electronic devices, child exploitation material from online chats, and a travel itinerary.
The court on Thursday heard the last online conversation of a sexual nature had been on June 24, nearly three weeks before Sertori's arrest.
Defence barrister Alyn Doig argued Sertori didn't necessarily intend to carry out his fantasy at the time he boarded the plane and "may well have come to his senses" by that time. But federal prosecutors, who called for an immediate term of imprisonment, said Sertori had given the undercover police officer a date and shared where he would be staying in London.
Mr Doig noted the child exploitation material had been written comments and didn't include images. He said the offender's trip with his mother had not been planned for the purpose of child sex abuse. He said Sertori, who had been assessed as a low risk of general reoffending, had shown insight into his crimes and sought psychological help. "He's well on his way to being as rehabilitated as he can be, given the circumstances."
Mr Doig urged the court to consider an intensive corrections order, which would allow Sertori to serve his sentence in the community. Justice John Burns will hand down his sentence next Thursday.
Former children's home boss arrested on suspicion of historical child sexual abuse
BY TOM PETTIFOR
Michael John Carroll, 69, was held after two former care home residents came forward to claim he attacked them in the early 1980s.
Carroll, who is known as John, was in charge of Angell Road children's home in Brixton for a decade from 1981. He worked at the Highland Road home in nearby Gipsy Hill from 1978.
Carroll was arrested at his detached house outside Oswestry, Shropshire, last Thursday by detectives from Operation Winter Key.
The specialist team was set up by Scotland Yard in the wake of the formation of the national public inquiry into child sexual abuse. It deals with allegations of non-recent abuse involving prominent people and cases where institutions are suspected of having failed to protect youngsters.
The arrest comes after the formation of the Shirley Oaks Survivors Association which represents hundreds of former residents of Lambeth children’s homes. SOSA has been investigating allegations of historical abuse in the borough for a number of years.
A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said: “Can confirm officers working on Op Winter Key at the Met arrested a 69 year old man on Thursday, 14 September in Shropshire on suspicion of non recent sexual assault against two individuals in the early 1980s. The man was bailed to a date in October.”
Mr Carroll's solicitor said: "My client was interviewed under caution by officers from the Met police and cooperated fully and answered each and every question.
"He maintains his innocence."
Luton woman jailed for ‘sickening’ abuse of child
A Luton woman has been jailed for four years after sexually abusing a small child.
Renata Manyoki, 21, of Dallow Road, Luton, was found guilty of sexually assaulting a child under the age of 13 and taking indecent images of children.
Manyoki was arrested in 2016 after videos of her sexually abusing a child were found.
An investigation was carried out by Bedfordshire Police and she was subsequently charged with two counts of child sex abuse.
Det Sgt Graeme Twyford said: “This was an absolutely sickening case of child sexual abuse which saw a young child being taken advantage of in the very worst possible way. It is incomprehensible to imagine that anyone would think it is acceptable to sexually abuse such a young child and I’m pleased that she will be locked away and prevented from causing any further harm.”
If you’re concerned about child sexual abuse you can call police on 101, or the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000. You can also visit the NSPCC website for help and support, including how to spot signs that a child may be being abused.
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