April 2014

Paedophile pensioner jailed for breaching sexual offences prevention order

A PAEDOPHILE pensioner is back behind bars for breaching a sexual offences prevention order for the ninth time.

Teesside Crown Court heard today (Wednesday, April 30) that 70-year-old John Locke tapped at the window and opened the door of a Middlesbrough home where a four-year-old boy lived with his mother.

It was around 10pm on March 17 and Locke claimed that he was cold and lost, and asked the boy’s mother to let him in.

Prosecutor Sue Jacobs said that the woman refused his request several times before Locke was removed from the property by some people walking down the street.

The passers-by then told her that Locke, of Marton Road, Middlesbrough, was a known sex offender.

Mrs Jacobs said this concerned the woman because she knew Locke had seen her out with her son before and in her opinion he had been watching them.

Mrs Jacobs read from the mother’s statement which said: “I was scared; he had seen my son days before.

“I am shocked and concerned that the man is allowed to be in this area.”

She added that she had almost let him in because she felt sorry for him.

The court heard that Locke had a previous conviction for indecently assaulting a 14-year-old boy and had been placed under a sexual offences prevention order which he then continually breached.

Mitigating, Andrew Turton admitted that a report prepared on Locke was “very depressing”.

He said that Locke, who admitted the latest breach, had last been released from prison on January 10.

He added: “The report makes note that he normally returns within a matter of days, but on this occasion he was out for two months.

“March 18 is when he returned (to custody); clearly he has been longer in the community than on previous occasions.”

However, Mr Turton conceded that another custodial sentence was inevitable and it was just a question of how long.

Judge Simon Bourne-Arton, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, criticised Locke for consistently breaching his order.

He said he had no doubt that Locke was aware of the terms of the order and that a more drastic step was needed.

He then jailed him for 18 months.

 

April 2012

Pervert pensioner jailed

A PERVERT pensioner has been jailed for tricking his way into an old folk’s home just days after avoiding prison for flouting an order which bans him from them.

John Wayne Locke told a man he met in the street that he lived at a local care home but was lost, and he was taken to Loxley Chase in The Crescent, Middlesbrough.

Staff put the 68-year-old in the dining room while they made inquiries but he went for a wander around the complex when he said he needed to use the toilet.

Teesside Crown Court heard that Locke is banned from loitering near care homes, nursing homes and sheltered housing complexes as part of tough restrictions.

He was made the subject of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) in June 2010 after public protection officials became worried about his behaviour.

In 2004, Locke was given an extended sentence for the indecent assault of a boy, and has failed in the past to comply with sex offenders’ register requirements.

Judge Peter Armstrong heard yesterday how the frail pensioner has now also breached the SOPO four times – most recently on December 27 last year.

Less than three weeks before sneaking around the care home, Locke was spared prison for flouting the order by approaching children in the street in Hartlepool.

He was given a community order with supervision after his barrister told the court he suffered from memory loss and sometimes forgot he had the restrictions.

Jim Withyman, mitigating, said today that Locke – who appeared in the dock with a patch over his right eye – was “a very unusual individual”.

He described the breach as technical and urged Judge Armstrong to consider a suspended prison sentence to allow Locke to receive some help in the community.

“If it had been him interfering with young children then it would be far more serious than this breach,” said Mr Withyman. “A member of the public took him.

“Quite how it came that there was a restriction on him entering care homes – one would think, where the elderly live – is somewhat curious, but I think it forms a pattern of behaviour in the past, visiting these places and being a nuisance.”

Locke, of Marton Road, Middlesbrough, admitted breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order and was jailed for 12 months.

Judge Armstrong told him: “The pre-sentence report (by a probation officer) indicates you are still a risk of further offending – a risk of harm, not only with children.”