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Hundreds of children sexually abused over several decades in
London council's care on a scale ‘hard to comprehend’ – inquiry
27 Jul, 2021 12:58
Lambeth Council
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has found that more than 700 children in the care of London's Lambeth Council were abused for several decades as part of a “toxic power game.”
In a Tuesday report, the inquiry alleged that children in the care of Lambeth Council “were subjected to levels of cruelty and sexual abuse that are hard to comprehend” at three care homes – Shirley Oaks, South Vale, and Angell Road – “where violence and sexual assault were allowed to flourish.”
Since the 1960s, Lambeth Council allegedly received complaints of sexual abuse from 705 former residents of the care homes, however only “one senior employee” was ever disciplined by the council.
He must have been a really busy guy!
“The report finds that the true scale of the sexual abuse against children in Lambeth's care will never be known, but it is certain to be significantly higher than is formally recorded,” declared the inquiry, which also alleged that black children in the care of the council experienced racism and “abusive treatment.”
Following the revelation that a child who was found dead at Shirley Oaks in 1977 had complained about sexual abuse in the care home, the inquiry is now calling on the Metropolitan Police to consider whether a criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death should be launched.
Inquiry Chairwoman Alexis Jay – who led the similar 2014 investigation into Rotherham child sexual abuse, which found at least 1,400 victims and implicated members of the council – said the children in Lambeth “became pawns in a toxic power game” between “the Council and central government.”
“There was a vicious and regressive culture, for which a succession of leading elected members were mainly responsible, aided and abetted in some instances by self-serving senior officials,” Jay declared, adding that the culture “contributed to allowing children in their care to suffer the most horrendous sexual abuse.”
Lambeth Council formally apologised on Tuesday for its failure to protect vulnerable children, with council leader Claire Holland calling the report “deeply shocking.”
“On behalf of the council, I want to restate our profound and sincere apology to all victims and survivors of abuse and neglect while in Lambeth's care,” she said, before going on to blame the “council of the past.”
Holland argued that while the council accepts its “inexcusable failings” and that it “failed so many,” there is a “big difference between the council of the past with Lambeth of today,” which is a “different, more child-focused and positive place for young people.”
The council also promoted its redress scheme, which allows victims of the abuse to apply for financial compensation and free counselling.
Mother who killed paedophile, 77, by stabbing him eight times
reveals she did it because he had abused her 12-year-old son
By SHARI MILLER and CLARE MCCARTHY FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 03:16 EDT, 26 July 2021
A mother-of-five who stabbed her neighbour to death with a knife after learning he was a paedophile today revealed her son was one of his victims.
Sarah Sands, 38, attacked Michael Pleasted, 77, in the living room of his east London flat weeks after discovering he had abused young boys.
During her trial in 2015 - for which she was convicted of manslaughter - it emerged Pleasted had 24 convictions for sex offences over three decades.
At the point of living next door to Sands, he had changed his name, while his crimes had pre-dated the sex offenders register, meaning that few knew about his past.
Sands received a seven-year prison term and spent almost four years behind bars before she was released.
Now for the first time she revealed her motive and said she did not regret her actions.
Sarah Sands, now 38, (pictured) stabbed convicted paedophile Michael Pleasted, 77, to death in his east London flat in in 2014. Today for the first time she revealed her motive, saying she attacked him after discovering he abused her son, Bradley, then 12
Speaking to The Sun, she said: 'I did what any mother would do, because he did this to my son Bradley, my little boy.
'I never dreamt I'd be capable. I have no pride in it, but at least I know he can't hurt anyone else.'
In 2014, when Bradley was aged 12, Pleasted had offered the young boy a job in the shop where he volunteered.
Sands said she had no reason not to trust her older neighbour, who she enjoyed chatting to and cooking meals for and thought it would be a good way for her son to earn pocket money.
Just weeks later, she was informed that Pleasted had been accused of molesting two children.
Her son denied anything had happened to him, but months later in November 2014, the youngster broke down and admitted he had been groomed and abused.
Bradley, now 19, is waiving his anonymity to speak of his ordeal revealing how he was 'too embarrassed' at first and thought he would get in trouble, but was having nightmares the paedophile would come after him again.
Pleasted denied the charges made against him, meaning his young victims would have to go to court to testify against him.
During her trial, Sands told the court she had gone to Pleasted to plead with him to admit his crimes and spare his young accusers from having to go to court.
But when he answered the door, he ignored her request and just 'smirked' as he told her the boys were all liars who had ruined his life, she said.
Sands, who had armed herself with a 12-inch kitchen knife before visiting, said she 'lost control' and stabbed Pleasted eight times.
Within hours, Sands handed herself into police, telling an officer: 'Who houses a f****** paedophile on an estate, like, seriously? He was, like, asking for trouble.'
Following a trial at the Old Bailey, she was cleared of murder but convicted of the lesser offence of manslaughter by reason of loss of control.
Sands lived on the same estate as the victim and occasionally visited his flat to give him some home-cooked food. She originally thought he was a 'positive male role model' for local children and defended him when he was accused of being a 'paedo'.
But unbeknownst to Sands, Pleasted was a convicted paedophile with a history of child sex attacks when the fresh allegations emerged.
During her case at London’s Old Bailey, it emerged that Pleasted, who had changed his name from Robin Moult so that authorities couldn't track him, had previous child sex offences dating between 1971 and 1990.
Pleasted first appeared at Snaresbrook Crown Court in mid-November 2014 charged with two counts of sexual assault on a child under the age of 13. The Crown Prosecution Service were also considering a charge involving a third boy. Pleasted denied the charges and was due to stand trial on June 1, 2015.
On the night of November 29, 2014, Sands drank two bottles of wine and a small bottle of whisky before arming herself with a knife and making her way to Pleastead's flat, the court heard.
She was caught on CCTV going to Mr Pleasted's third floor flat. Twenty minutes later she left the building carrying a bloodstained knife in her left hand. Sands returned to her flat and changed out of her bloodstained clothes, having told a neighbour, 'pretend you never saw me.'
Sarah said: 'I did what any mother would do, because he did this to my son Bradley, my little boy. ' Pictured: Sands seen on CCTV carrying a 12in knife in the lift shortly before killing Mike Pleasted
She then took a taxi to see her stepson Paul Penn and tearfully confessed to stabbing Pleasted. Mr Penn, 27, told the court: 'We were sitting there chatting away and she came out that she had stabbed him.
'It was like joking about, I didn't think it was being serious. She kept saying she had stabbed him. She said when the door opened she went in and stabbed him, nothing else at all.
'She got the knife out and showed me. It was a kitchen knife, about a foot long, it had a very pink substance on it.'
Pleasted was found dead in the hallway of his flat the next day after Sands handed herself in to the police.
Sands sobbed in the witness box as she insisted that she did not mean to hurt Pleasted when she went to his flat armed with a knife. She told jurors she had gone there to plead with him to admit his crimes and spare his young accusers from having to go to court.
Sands said: 'I was frightened. It was not how it was meant to go. He was meant to listen to me.'
Prosecutor Jonathan Rees QC argued that Sands had 'decided to take revenge on Mr Pleasted for the hurt and turmoil she believed he had inflicted.' He added: 'It is not a defence to a charge of murder to say something along the following lines, "the victim got what he deserved because he was a paedophile".
'Just a moment's thought will confirm what all fair and reasonable people appreciate, namely that members of the public can not be allowed to take the law into their own hands, however appallingly their fellow citizens might be thought to have behaved.'
The jury deliberated for three days before clearing her of murder and convicting her of manslaughter. Sentencing was adjourned for reports and will take place in September.
Trial Judge Nicholas Cooke QC told the jury that an inquiry was underway into the decision to bail Pleasted, adding that the jurors were clearly 'troubled by the background' of the case.
The jury were right to clear Sands of murder, police have said. Speaking after the verdict, DS Perry Benton said: 'The jury have taken a considerable time to reach the verdict... but eventually reached the right verdict.'
Asked why convicted paedophile Pleasted was on bail after fresh child sex abuse allegations emerged, he said: 'That is a difficult question. The local officers had conducted a thorough investigation. They had made an arrest and put him through the courts and it was the courts' decision to release him on bail.'
When pressed on the threat Pleasted posed to the community, the officer added: 'The police arrested him and charged him, remanding him in custody to go to court as part of the judicial process and it was the courts' decision to grant him bail.'
Seems like a judge has some blood on his hands.
Paedophile gave girl, 15, alcohol and cocaine before
'extreme sexual abuse'
dailystar
Martin Yankey's victim tried to take her own life after the abuse (Image: Greater Manchester Police / SWNS)
A paedophile martial arts instructor groomed a 15-year-old girl in care before subjecting her to "extreme sexual abuse".
Martin Yankey, then 34, targeted his victim between February and May 2019.
He took her from a children’s care home to his property in Atherton, Greater Manchester, where he would ply her with drink and drugs.
The victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was given so much cocaine that the septum in her nose was damaged.
After a few visits, she thought she was in a relationship with Yankey and would visit regularly.
A statement from her read: "I was given drink and drugs and suffered extreme sexual abuse. I started showering excessive amounts and self-harming, I tried to make sense of it but I couldn't."
The care home often reported her missing and police visited Yankey's home on April 13, 2018, where taxi drivers had reported taking her.
Yankey denied knowing the girl when he was quizzed by officers, but on May 18 they found her hiding in a kitchen cupboard and he was arrested.
He admitted to sexual activity with a child, abduction and possession of indecent images of a child at Manchester Crown Court. He was jailed for 13 years and given an indefinite restraining order and a sexual harm prevention order.
Judge Hilary Manley said: "You executed classic methods of grooming, being loving and making her feel like an adult. You are a devious and selfish man. She doesn't feel she will ever recover and has tried to take her own life. You have shown no remorse and have no real idea the damage you have done.
"It is interesting and disturbing that your latest partner is 20, it's not illegal but there is a significant age gap again."
Yankey told police he believed the victim was 17 and denied their relationship was sexual.
Defending Yankey, Jo Morris said that he was now in a committed relationship and he should be given credit for entering guilty pleas.
Ms Morris also said Yankey had been diagnosed with psychosis and epilepsy in 2019 and had not been making sensible decisions at the time.
Drugs will do that to ya!
Global mission led by Interpol sees over 280 human smuggling
suspects arrested, 430 victims freed
26 Jul, 2021 17:33
FILE PHOTO. A Libyan coast guardsman stands on a boat during the rescue of 147 illegal immigrants attempting to reach Europe off the coastal town of Zawiyah, 45 kilometres west of the capital Tripoli. © AFP / Taha JAWASHI
Crime agency Interpol has released details of ‘Operation Liberterra’, a mission coordinated by authorities in dozens of states which led to the rescue of 430 human trafficking victims and the arrest of 286 suspects.
Law enforcement agencies across 47 countries participated in the mission, under which some 500,000 inspections were carried out at checkpoints and airports following local intelligence and tip-offs, Interpol said in a statement on Monday.
As well as the overarching mission to combat migrant smuggling, the agency said that a further 60 transnational investigations have been launched to focus on forged identification, after an influx of fake or stolen identity documents were seized during the assignment.
Operation Liberterra ran from July 5 to 9, and on the first day of the mission authorities in Tanzania arrested a Ugandan bus driver carrying a box of 169 forged passports from Kampala to Dar es Salaam, according to Interpol.
Among the arrests made during the operation, authorities in Brazil, Colombia, Curacao, and Panama detained fugitives wanted for crimes such as drug trafficking, rape, and money laundering. Six people were arrested in the UK who were sought by authorities over sex-trafficking charges.
Interpol Secretary-General Jurgen Stock said the operation underscored “how multinational, highly organized criminal networks only focus on one thing – profit.”
“With 22 criminal groups dismantled, it also shows what coordinated, global law enforcement action can achieve,” Stock added.
The results of Operation Liberterra also highlighted a concerning level of human trafficking from Africa and the Middle East into Europe. In Spain, one organized crime group which reportedly smuggled migrants by sea from Algeria to the Spanish coast was brought down. Authorities in North Macedonia arrested six gang members who, Interpol said, liaised with partners in the Middle East to smuggle migrants to Greece from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Syria.
Many of the trafficking victims located as part of the mission were rescued in Sudan, Interpol said, with authorities there freeing 253. They also arrested 32 suspects as part of the joint operation.
The law enforcement body also noted that some of the 430 trafficking victims found via Operation Liberterra were underage girls, some of whom had been “coerced into sexual exploitation through death threats from human traffickers.”
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Man who murdered ‘Britain’s worst paedophile’
laughs as he’s jailed for 34 years
James Hockaday, Metro, UK
Tuesday 24 Nov 2020 9:03 pm
Warning: Graphic content
An inmate who brutally murdered ‘Britain’s worst paedophile’ in prison has been told he will spend a minimum of 34 years in jail.
Paul Fitzgerald, 30, strangled Richard Huckle with an electrical cable sheath, inserted a pen into his brain through his nostril, raped him and penetrated his anus with a spoon handle in a 78-minute attack in his cell at HMP Full Sutton, East Yorkshire.
He said he would have liked to cook and eat parts of his target’s body and would have gone on to kill more inmates but was ‘having too much fun’.
In what he called a ‘poetic act of justice, Fitzgerald said he wanted the 33-year-old paedophile to feel what his victims had felt.
Claiming that he had ‘taken the law into his own hands’ at Hull Crown Court today, Mr Justice Lavender said: ‘You are a psychopath and you derive pleasure from fantasising about raping, torturing, killing, and even eating others.
‘On this occasion you derived pleasure from acting out your fantasies.’
Fitzgerald went into Huckle’s cell on October 13 last year, armed with makeshift weapons, made out of a toothbrush and a pen, a ligature and items to gag him and bind his arms and legs.
After tying him up and raping his victim, he strangled him with so much force his hands still require treatment.
Fitzgerald also smashed his face on to the floor, punched him, broke his jaw, stabbed him in the neck and inserted the pen so far up his nostril that it penetrated the bone and went into his brain.
Mr Justice Lavender said: ‘You intended to rape and kill Mr Huckle and, if possible, cook parts of him and eat them.
‘You did this for your own pleasure and also to inflict what you called poetic justice on a convicted paedophile.
‘The attack last over an hour and a quarter. At the end of which Mr Huckle was either dead or dying.
‘Describing the events afterwards, you said: “I got carried away by how much fun I was having doing what I was doing to him”.’
The court heard that Fitzgerald, has a range of conditions including psychopathy, anti-social personality disorder and gender identity disorder.
He has previous convictions for violent and sexual offences, starting from the age of 13, including the false imprisonment of a female prison officer.
The judge said the only mitigating features of the case were Fitzgerald’s mental health issues, which were the result of physical and sexual abuse he suffered as a child.
He said: ‘They were the source of your urge to kill, which motivated you. I am sure you could have resisted that urge if you chose to do so, just as you have resisted it for the whole of your adult life.’
Fitzgerald appeared at the sentencing hearing by video link to prison, wearing rosary beads and with a shaven head and long, goatee beard.
He appeared to laugh at several points throughout the hearing and yawned and stretched his arms as the judge passed his life sentence.
Huckle, from Ashford, in Kent, awarded himself ‘paedo-points’ for different acts of abuse against 191 youngsters and sold images of his depravity on the dark web.
In online posts, he bragged that it was easier to target impoverished children in Malaysia (2nd story on link) than those from wealthy western backgrounds.
At the time of his arrest, at Gatwick Airport in 2014, he was writing a guide to teach fellow paedophiles how to abuse children and avoid detection.
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