Chatroom predator jailed for
attacks
AN INTERNET
paedophile, who used the web to ensnare young teenagers, has been put behind
bars after a 14-year-old Tring schoolgirl told police she was one of his
victims.
Geoffrey Wilson was arrested after the girl, who can't be identified
for legal reasons, told teachers at her school he had sex with her in the back
of his car in 2004.
Sussex-based delivery driver Wilson, of Eastbourne,
pleaded guilty to 26 offences including counts of having unlawful sexual
intercourse with a child, indecency with a child and taking indecent pictures of
children.
Wilson, who would drive thousands of miles to meet girls he had
groomed through dating website Faceparty, was jailed for nine years for the
offences involving five young teenage girls.
Mr Stuart Trimmer, prosecuting,
said: "He is a predatory paedophile who uses the internet to obtain
introductions to teenage girls.
"He used simple techniques of flattery and
gifts to move swiftly to sex with the child if the child permitted
it."
Wilson, 49, was arrested in September 2004 after the Tring teenager
reported him to her teacher after he had sex with the girl on the back seat of
his car in a B&Q car park during the summer holidays.
The twice married
pervert, who has grown up children and grandchildren of his own, found his
victims after signing up for membership of an internet chatroom and dating
agency.
After building up a rapport with them he would arrange meetings,
driving to the North of England, the Home Counties, London and East
Anglia.
Mr Trimmer prosecuting said "All of the victims have
their
difficulties and difficulties that were clear to the defendant.”
Wilson had
sex with the Tring schoolgirl on at least five other occasions, including once
when he told her it was his birthday and it could be his treat if he did not
wear a condom.
On another occasion he met two teenage girls from North London
in Tring where they left their pushbikes in a nearby alleyway and were then
driven to an industrial estate car park in his bacon delivery van.
He had sex
with one girl and indecently assaulted both of them.
Five days after he had
carried out the offences in the industrial estate car park police officers were
shown the scene by one of the youngsters and were able to recover vital forensic
evidence including Wilson's DNA.
Mr Timothy Bergin, defending, asked for
credit to be given to Wilson for his guilty pleas. He said Wilson now accepted
that what he had done was "utterly wrong."
Judge Seddon Cripps jailed Wilson
for nine years and told him he will be on licence for four years once he is
released from prison.
He was also told he must pay £6,500 towards the
prosecution costs and he was disqualified from working with children. His name
will also be placed on the sex offenders’ register.
In addition the judge
made a sexual offences
prevention order which forbids Wilson to reside in
the same house as any female under the age of 16 or allow any girl under 16 into
a vehicle owned by him.
The order also forbids Wilson from enticing or
approaching any girl under 16 or to frequent any school, amusement arcade or
place of leisure where young girls may visit.
Police praise for
teenage victim
POLICE have praised
the bravery of a 14-year-old Tring schoolgirl who helped identify internet
paedophile Geoffrey Wilson who could have seduced more than 70 other youngsters
through a web-based
introductions agency.
Wilson, of Eastbourne, Sussex,
pleaded guilty to 26 offences involving five teenage girls from across the
country.
Detective Sergeant Steve Hynes of Hertfordshire Constabulary, who
led the investigation, said the Sussex delivery driver had a list of more than
70 names of girls he had contact with but confirmed there is no way of knowing
how many young girls he stalked.
He admitted police were powerless to prevent
paedophiles from using legal internet chatrooms to groom targets and it was the
courage of Wilson’s victims who finally brought him to justice.
"When he was
arrested we found two lists. One with more than 100 names of girls, of unknown
ages, he had contact with via the Faceparty website and another of about 70 who
he'd actually had some sort of relationship with," he said. "He would act as a
father figure to those girls some of whom were in need, were from difficult
backgrounds or had learning difficulties.
"They would need somebody to talk
to and he would offer them gifts and in one case he proposed marriage and gave a
girl a ring.
"While I'm not pleased those girls were victims of this predator
in the first place, I am pleased that list will not get any bigger. There have
been no other victims and we know that because we locked him up.
"If the
girls involved hadn't spoken up there would be more victims out there. They are
really very brave and have been severely traumatised by these horrific
incidents."
Wilson, 49, was arrested in September 2004 when a schoolgirl in
Tring reported him to her teacher after he had sex with the girl on the back
seat of his car in a B&Q car park during the summer.
She identified him
by name and her actions meant Wilson’s reign of corruption ended within an hour
of the school informing officers at Hertfordshire Police.
The tip-off, which
saw officers swoop on his Eastbourne home to arrest him, sparked a nationwide
investigation into Wilson’s activities.
Officers at Hertfordshire Police
led the investigation which identified further victims in Northumbria, Suffolk
and North London, while Wilson remained in custody. Sexual offences on
Hertfordshire children have steadily increased over the last five years which
has led to the setting up of a specialist paedophile unit of five
detectives.
But DS Hynes, who believes Herts police are leaders in
investigating such cases, admits that despite police monitoring internet sites,
parents and the public must remain vigilant.
"These sites are not illegal and
the first message to parents is that internet connected computers should not be
in children's bedrooms, which was a common feature in this case," he said.
"Children will push boundaries and computers should be kept in a room that can
be monitored. Children should know they can report anything in confidence to
their school's child protection officer, their parents or their social
worker.”
New market is big deal for
traders
STALLHOLDERS
reported a 30 per cent increase in customers on the first day of trading at
Tring's refurbished market place which reopened at the weekend.
 Bargain hunters
at the Charter Market lapped up the late summer sunshine in Brook Street on
Friday while grey skies accompanied Saturday's Farmers' Market prompting caution
among those hoping for a runaway success.
Flower man Keith Austin, who has
been trading in Tring for 42 years since he left school, believed the new set up
was a huge improvement, but thought it could take up to six months for the
effects to be felt properly.
“It was quite a successful day and there were a
lot of people we hadn't seen before,” said the 57-year-old from Bletchley,
Buckinghamshire.
“Before the move there were a lot of fears over how it would
turn out, but it has been well run and efficient on the day and it’s hard to
criticise.
“There was about 30 per cent more people than normal and if 20 per
cent come back it is beneficial, but you have to give it two or three weeks to
see if it’s attracted more people.
“Once the winter sets in I'm sure it will
be a different story. it's encouraging, but you need to give it six
months.”
Councillor Mike James officially opened the market site on Saturday
when he was joined by youngsters from local schools who entertained crowds
visiting the Farmers' Market - many for the first time.
A fresh fish stall, a
cheese outlet and butchers were among some of the new stalls brought in on
Friday and businessmen believe it is similar additions which will make or break
the market in the future.
Clothes retailer Tony Asher, 62, from Rushden,
Northamptonshire, who has been part of the furniture at Tring for more than 25
years, believes the market could be a slowly dying trade anyway, despite efforts
to breath new life into it.
“The council deserves a good slap on the back.
They've made a lot of effort,” he said.
“Initially we thought it would be a
disaster but it's worked out pretty good. It’s been well supported and long may
that continue.
“Us old timers keep it going but there's not many new people
getting into it. It's much the same across the country, there are fewer people
working on the markets and it's getting harder. I make a living these days and
only time will tell how it goes.”
Stallholders in the Farmers’ Market have
been less cautious claiming the market will draw more people to the town wanting
to sample the local produce.
Councillor Michael James, who marked the opening
by ringing the original market bell which is over 300-years-old, said: “A market
town has got to have a market and Saturday’s Farmers’ Market proved
that.
“There must have been more than 3,000 people through the market.
“Some stall holders who came for the first time had sold out of produce
before 11.30am. They were very surprised and it proves if you’ve got good
produce it will sell.
“We’ve got plans for a big Christmas market and
hopefully this will build towards that,” he added.
Last chance to see
mill
Ford End Watermill
in Ivinghoe will be opening its doors to the public for the last time this year
on Sunday, September 25.
Based in Station Road the listed 1890s mill is the
only working watermill in Buckinghamshire.
It is open to the public on
Sundays and bank holidays from May to September.
The watermill will be open
from 2.30pm to 5.30pm and there will be stoneground flour on sale.
For more
information call 01582 600391.
Shop’s
new look
A CHARITY shop in
Tring is getting a well deserved face lift thanks to Watford based company John
Lewis.
The Iain Rennie Hospice At Home shop will be transformed by six John
Lewis workers armed with paint brushes and rollers on Thursday and Friday this
week.
John Lewis is paying for the store in High Street, Tring to be decked
out with the
charity’s new logo colours - white, gold and purple.
The
shop’s frontage will get a lick of paint and a new shop sign sponsored by Amber
Signs of Berkhamsted will be put up. Mrs
Gorton said: “We are not digging
into any of Iain Rennie’s funds to pay for this. It is entirely funded by other
people.”
The hospice shop will be closed on Thursday and Friday while work is
carried out but shop staff will be selling goods including Christmas cards in
the town’s Church Square.
‘Danger’ flats plan is
approved
PLANS for dozens of
new flats in Tring were approved last week, despite the concerns of councillors
and residents.
The proposed development, for 34 new flats to be built in
Brook Street, was discussed by planning chiefs at Hemel Hempstead Civic Centre
on Thursday.
At the meeting residents from neighbouring Shugars Green spoke
out against part of the development that would convert their cul-de-sac into an
access road.
The residents voiced concerns over inadequate parking, danger to
young pedestrians and the risk of using Shugars Green – which has a sharp
incline – as an access road in poor weather.
Tring Town Councillor Nicholas
Hollinghurst said: “The main issue is that a safe and homely environment would
be damaged by this development. Hertfordshire Highways is doing nothing to
address the infusion of traffic into this quiet neighbourhood.”
Cllr Derek
Townsend said his own daughter had been hit by a vehicle in the area.
He
said the current plans should have been made to coincide with an adjacent
development in Brook Street which has already been completed, and that £14,000
cash offered by the developers to fund public transport was no
compensation.
However, despite the issues raised by residents and
councillors, planning chiefs still voted in favour of the
application.
Still ‘my lovely wife’ after 60
years
A SIMPLE life is the
secret to staying together for more than half a century says 79-year-old Donald
Harding.
 He met his wife
Alice 65 years ago and on Sunday they celebrated their diamond wedding
anniversary.
Donald said: “In those days there was no television so we all
congregated in Tring village, went out to the pictures and had some fish and
chips wrapped in newspaper. I met Alice one day on the bus as I used to get it
from Wigginton, where I lived, to Tring. You could say it was love on the bus.
They have three sons Michael, Wayne and Phillip and a daughter, Linda.
Donald
and Alice are still very much in love today and are happy in their simple life
spending their days gardening, shopping and visiting the
grandchildren.
“Alice means everything to me,” said Donald. “She’s a lovely
woman. Everyone has their ups and downs but it’s very nice making up.
“There’s no secret to a happy marriage you just have to live an ordinary
life. I’m not a rich man, we give and take and that’s how we are. I wouldn't be
without her for the world.”
Kathryn’s wildlife shots pick up plaudits from
the experts
Picture this
A LOVE of animals
and photography has been a howling success for one doggie groomer who has bagged
her second photographic award this year.
 Co-owner of Posh
Paws in Marsworth Kathryn Foulger won best photograph in the nature and
environment category of the Panasonic Batteries Amateur Photographer of the Year
Award.
It is her second award this year after winning another competition
with a travel company in February that won her some Jessops vouchers.
Her
photo in the Panasonic competition called ‘Great Grey Owl Meal Time!’ won her
digital camera equipment including batteries, charger and a tripod.
She is
now in with a chance of winning the grand prize, which is a holiday for two at a
game lodge in Namibia.
Although the 41-year-old from Tring took her winning
picture in the Lake District at an owl sanctuary she takes many of her shots in
Dacorum.
She said: “I go out about once a fortnight to practice. It's
definitely best to go out early in the morning for the good light especially on
the canals where I'm usually there before most people have got up.”
Kathryn
first became hooked on photography after she completed a 10 week course run by
Gazette photographer David Satchel, at West Herts College. Now she takes as many
opportunities as possible to go out in the area to capture wildlife
shots.
“Being an animal lover you get to know their whims like when and where
certain birds will be out.
“My next pictures will be of the deer up on the
Ashridge Estate because it’s rutting season they don't tend to notice humans so
much and I might be able to catch some deer arguing over the females,” she
explained.
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