Maidstone Crown Court Sentencing Results

On 14 February 2024, Kent Police officers visited Paul Webster’s home to inspect devices under his Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO). He provided a non-internet enabled phone but claimed no other devices. A search revealed two internet-enabled phones (one under a pillow), 11 USB sticks and an SD card. One phone contained indecent images of children, including category A material, and a browser without internet history. He also had a bank card without notifying police, breaching notification requirements.

Robert Gunner targeted children over a three-year period, committing horrific offences. Kent Police received allegations and arrested him, seizing his laptop and mobile phone, which contained 226 illegal images of children, including 27 of the most serious category, and eight extreme pornographic images. These actions left the victims with traumatic memories.

Sean Royle, 37, from Maidstone, breached his Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) imposed in 2021 by secretly using a mobile phone. In July 2023, he was found to be in an undisclosed relationship with a woman who has young children. On 1 September 2023, he used a Snapchat profile to contact a 13-year-old girl outside Kent, revealing his age (almost three times hers), expressing desire to kiss and hug her, asking her to be his girlfriend, and sending a picture showing his face and naked upper torso with a distinctive tattoo. The victim informed her father, leading to his arrest on 29 November 2023. The seized phone contained almost 200 illegal videos and images of children being sexually abused.

Andrew Bloomfield targeted a first victim he knew indirectly from 2013, sending images of naked men, using sexually derogatory language and making lewd suggestions, continuing despite objections using fake identities over several years. From 2016, he targeted a second victim with images of men’s genitals and offensive messages using around 80 false identities. The women, acquaintances, contacted police leading to his arrest on 31 August 2022. Digital devices seized revealed evidence against the victims and other women.

Asif Mirza contacted the victim through social media at the start of 2024, gained her trust by showing sympathy for her personal issues, pressured her to send indecent images, and arranged to meet her at a park in Sittingbourne on 2 August 2024. When the victim felt unwell, he encouraged her to sit in the rear of his car parked in Avenue of Remembrance, covered the windows, and committed an indecent act in her presence. A Kent Police worker noticed the suspicious vehicle, leading to his arrest after he claimed she was his step-daughter but admitted they met online.

Alwyn Tuttiett tormented his former partner with a constant barrage of phone calls, emails and social media posts, and repeatedly followed her as she walked with her child, after their relationship ended in October 2023. He bombarded her with aggressive, degrading and sexually explicit voicemails and messages, including calling her phone 134 times in one week. After being blocked, he made accusations via her friends’ Facebook pages, impacting her business. On 6 February 2024, he arrived at her home, screamed and spat in her face in the presence of her child. Arrested later that month, he continued harassment despite bail conditions, leading to re-arrest in June.

Liam Battelle met his victim through social media and met her in person at the start of 2023. He moved into her house and began assaulting her. He was extremely jealous, accusing her of other relationships, requiring permission to use her phone while listening to calls, not allowing her to use the bathroom alone or hair straighteners, threatening to throw acid in her face if she left, causing her to distance from family and friends. He continued assaults, damaged her property, and used her bank card for purchases. Arrested on 11 July.

On February 20, 2024, shortly after midnight in Luton, Kelliot and an accomplice demanded cash from a man in his 50s, took £100 and his phone, then stabbed him multiple times when he said he had no more money. Victim hospitalized.

Peter Johnson, a 37-year-old registered sex offender from Tunbridge Wells, formerly known as Peter Austen and previously convicted in 2017 of possessing indecent images of children, used a fake Snapchat profile as 'Matt Harper' to contact who he believed was a 13-year-old girl (a decoy profile). Over several days in October 2023, he sent explicit images including videos of himself, voice messages, and clothed images showing his face. Arrested at his home on 15 November 2023; phone seized revealed an illegal image of a child in the most serious category.

Issoop Naguib Lootfun, a 69-year-old care worker at a care home in Maidstone, had sex without the consent of a vulnerable young disabled woman on or around 8 May 2024. Police were called after a condom wrapper was found in the woman’s room. Lootfun initially claimed it had fallen out of his pocket and denied any sexual activity. He was suspended from the care home. Searches revealed two used condoms with DNA matching both Lootfun and the victim, as well as semen stains in her room matching his DNA profile. The offence involved significant planning and an attempt to cover up the crime by disposing of evidence within plastic gloves.

Naguib Lootfun, a 69-year-old care worker from Maidstone, sexually abused a severely disabled vulnerable patient unable to consent while working night shift at an assisted living facility. Suspicions arose on 8 May 2024 after colleagues found an empty condom wrapper in the victim's bedroom. A used condom was found the next day, leading to his arrest on suspicion of rape. Further evidence including a second used condom and DNA linked him to the offences. He initially denied but later admitted the act.

Rhys Mateer, a sex offender, tampered with police monitoring software on his mobile phone, installed an application to prevent retention of his browsing history, used an alias on his gaming console without notifying police, and acquired a laptop and external hard drive without declaration. These actions breached conditions from his previous conviction. On June 15, 2024, police visited his home and discovered the breaches, leading to his arrest. Further searches found undeclared items including a bank card, tablet, and mobile phone in his car. Originally, he was convicted in August 2020 for engaging in sexual communication with a child.

On May 31, 2024, at a roundabout near Bobbing on the A249, Willis' Volkswagen Golf struck a man after a road rage incident originating near a petrol station in Sittingbourne. The victim suffered injuries to his face, teeth, and hands after being thrown from the windscreen.

Ben Champion, from Chatham, breached his indefinite sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) by living at a different property from his registered address, having unsupervised contact with children, and deleting some of his internet history on his phone. These breaches occurred between March and April 2024. Police discovered the breaches during a visit to his registered home on 18 April 2024.

David Smith, 68, from Rainham, Medway, accessed Snapchat, WhatsApp and Kik to contact children as young as 12. He engaged in explicit conversations with a decoy profile 'Jake' believed to be 12 years old, encouraging photos and planning to meet and abuse. Also groomed a real 14-year-old victim in Essex with false suicidal claims due to ill-health and sent £500 payment days after his December 2023 arrest. Offences occurred between August 2023 and January 2024.

On 17 February 2024 Southgate subjected his victim to a violent assault at a residential property and strangled her multiple times. Two days later he verbally abused the woman before assaulting her again. She then contacted the police and on 24 February 2024 Southgate, 57, from Maidstone, was arrested at his home address.

Peter Smith, 74, from Maidstone (formerly Ellesmere, Shropshire), under a SHPO from a prior conviction, used a monitored tablet in December 2021 to search for and comment on indecent images of children. Police seized a mobile phone and two tablets containing illegal material. He denied responsibility, claiming devices were second-hand.

On 24 April 2023, Russell Hogg entered Maidstone Library and tried to engage a group of school children in conversation, stared at them and shouted towards them while at a computer. He revisited on 12 May 2023, approached the same group, asked if it was a social or study meet-up, and loitered at their table. Arrested the same day, he breached his 2018 sexual harm prevention order prohibiting unsupervised contact with children under 16 and internet restrictions.

Ieasha Gilham and Brett Gilham attacked the victim at his home in Hawkinge on Friday 24 March 2023 after the victim heard someone knocking at his front door. He opened it to find Brett Gilham claiming to have collided with his car. Brett Gilham then forced the front door and he and Ieasha Gilham chased the man into his living room demanding money. Ieasha Gilham then stabbed the man in the back before the victim managed to get out of his home and raise the alarm with a neighbour. The offenders fled the scene and emergency services arrived, rushing the victim to a London hospital with serious injuries.

Ben Murphy targeted children both online and in person. Between January 2020 and March 2021, he contacted five unknown children via social media, requesting images of them in underwear or performing sexual acts, and in one case, incited a child to abuse their two-month-old relative for £1,000. He sent indecent images and videos of himself and requested private calls for further abuse. Additionally, in February 2021 and February 2024, he approached children in parks in Sittingbourne, making indecent suggestions, including to two children on swings in 2024, from which he fled after being told to leave.