October 2017

Stevenage paedophile opera singer jailed

A paedophile opera singer from Stevenage has been jailed after being caught with sexual images of children and animals just months into a community sentence.

Tenor and actor Nicholas Ransley – who has sung at the Royal Opera House and appeared on BBC TV – tried to cover his tracks by manipulating the internet history on his laptop in violation of a sexual harm prevention order imposed for previous offences.

The 50-year-old, of Vardon Road, admitted the charges when he appeared at St Albans Crown Court – and on Monday, Judge Stephen Warner sentenced him to 13 months behind bars.

The court heard that London-trained Ransley, who played Neil Armstrong in Channel 4 TV opera Man On The Moon, was found in possession of indecent images of children on his computer in Stevenage in September last year.

The computer also had 19 images on it showing sex acts involving dogs and horses.

Ransley had been handed a community sentence and sexual harm prevention order by a judge at Cambridge Crown Court in July 2016, forbidding him to delete or amend records of his online activity – but he nevertheless tried to wipe the evidence.

Entering pleas at St Albans Crown Court on September 8 this year, he admitted three counts of making indecent photographs of children, two counts of breaching his sexual harm prevention order and one of possessing extreme pornography involving animals.