'Sadistic' west Cumbrian child sex offender terrorised woman
A CHILD sex offender who feared he was going to prison subjected a defenceless woman to “an extended evening of terror” as he held her prisoner.
The judge dealing with the case ruled that he is a dangerous offender.
Mattinson-Smith was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court for a raft of crimes, which included multiple sex offences against a young child and a teenager, whom he began abusing after meeting her online and lying about his age.
The defendant also admitted downloading hundreds of child abuse images, including some depicting the abuse of children as young as four.
Prosecutor Andrew Gurney outlined the offending.
The first evidence of wrongdoing came when the defendant was arrested for offences linked to his abuse of a 14-year-old schoolgirl, which happened after he met her on Snapchat, giving a false name and telling her he was aged 15.
“He knew she was a schoolgirl,” said Mr Gurney.
This was because the girl both told Mattinson-Smith her age, and she looked her age.
In the days that followed, the defendant met the girl on three occasions, when he committed eight child sexual activity offences. His deception – the false name and age he gave the girl - was exposed when she inadvertently phoned Mattinson-Smith, and his partner answered.
When police arrested the defendant and his phone was examined, officers found hundreds of horrific indecent child images.
They included images and videos of adults sexually abusing children as young as four.
There were 149 images assessed as Category A – the most serious kind; 138 Category B images; and 109 Category C images.
Police also found evidence on the phone that Mattinson-Smith had sexually abused a very young child on two occasions.
Mr Gurney then described how the defendant held a young woman against her will, subjecting her to a terrifying and sadistic ordeal that included death threats and violence.
After returning from a fishing trip, Mattinson-Smith, of Highfield Road, Cleator Moor, went back to his home with the woman.
When he saw certain messages on her phone, he became angry, smashing the device. “He was behaving bizarrely and deliberately scaring her,” said Mr Gurney. He placed a rope around his neck and then hers.
“He was concerned about going to prison, suggesting that they were going to die.” Mattinson-Smith told the woman: “If I’m going down, you’re going down with me.”
The prosecutor described how the defendant then armed himself with a knife and used it to cut his arms, smearing blood on his clothes and verbally abusing the woman. He repeatedly headbutted her, refusing to let her leave.
When she went to the bathroom upstairs, he followed her, wearing latex gloves and holding a bottle of bleach. The woman feared Mattinson-Smith would force her to drink the bleach. “She was terrified,” said Mr Gurney.
After wrapping her in curtains, he pushed her down the stairs, before stuffing a sock in her mouth to prevent her screaming before he again headbutted her. He made yet more threats, saying he would smash her face in and get a machete.
The woman’s ordeal ended when she scrambled through a window and fled to a neighbour’s home. Police found him near a local lake, holding a beer can and a knife and saying he would cut himself and “bleed out.”
He threw the can at one of the officers, hitting her on the forehead. Summarising the false imprisonment, Mr Gurney said it featured "sadistic conduct."
Kim Whittlestone, defending, said a background psychiatric report highlighted a history of mental health issues, which were not addressed during his early life. There was evidence of psychosis, said the barrister.
Further medical investigation was needed to determine whether Mattinson-Smith suffers from personality disorder. Referring to the assessing doctor, the barrister added: “He indicates that the defendant should be supported and given assistance while in custody.
“He was unable to get the support he required when younger.
“He utilised alcohol at the time of his offending. And it is clear from his admissions in the pre-sentence report that his cocaine addiction was out of hand.”
“That led to his exploration of the internet and that led to a further distortion in his thinking which led to a very serious set of sexual offences.”
In prison, added Miss Whittlestone, the defendant had thought hard about his offending behaviour and his attitude has changed with the passage of time.”
Recorder Julian Shaw said the defendant knew the age of the schoolgirl he abused and he had also filmed himself abusing the younger child.
Referring to the false imprisonment, Recorder Shaw said: “You became abusive and, in the course of an extended evening of terror for that young lady, you restrained her and put a rope round her neck.”
The defendant held the woman prisoner overnight in what must have been "a terrifying experience", said the judge.
Declaring Mattinson-Smith to be a "dangerous offender", and that the public needs to be protected from him, the Recorder jailed the defendant for seven and a half years, specifying a three year extension to his licence period.
He will serve two thirds of the seven-and-a-half years, but remain at risk of recall to prison for three years after that term.
Mattinson-Smith will be on the Sex Offender Register indefinitely and subject to a sexual harm prevention order. Restraining orders prevent any contact with his victims, also for an indefinite period.
The defendant admitted two child sex assaults, eight counts of sexual activity with a child, the schoolgirl; three counts of downloading indecent child images; false imprisonment, causing criminal damage; an assault by beating; and police assault.
