Two inmates charged with murder after 'disembowelled' paedophile is killed in jail attack

10-3-2011 United Kingdom:

Nathan Mann, 23, and Michael Parr, 32, charged with murdering Mitchell Harrison, 23;
Soham killer Ian Huntley had his throat slashed at same prison last year

Two prisoners have appeared in court charged with the murder of a paedophile inmate who died after being disembowelled in an attack in his cell.

Nathan Mann, 23, and Michael Parr, 32, spoke only to confirm their names at the five-minute hearing at Peterlee Magistrates Court.

They are accused of killing Mitchell Harrison, 23, at high-security Frankland Prison, in County Durham - where last year Soham killer Ian Huntley was slashed in the throat by a fellow inmate.

Serial sex attacker Harrison was killed with makeshift weapons, thought to be razor blades melted into toothbrush handles.

Harrison, who was sentenced in January 2010 to a minimum of four-and-a-half years for raping a 13-year-old girl, was found by warders shortly after 10am on Saturday.

A source close to the prison said: ‘To all intents and purposes he had been disembowelled. There was blood everywhere.

‘We are still trying to work out the exact chain of events.’

Magistrates set Mann and Parr's case to be heard at Newcastle Crown Court, where the pair will next appear on Wednesday.

Harrison was jailed indefinitely at Carlisle Crown Court in January last year as the judge said he posed a ‘substantial risk’ to young girls.

He lured his teenage victim to his flat in Kendal, Cumbria. Once inside he ordered her to strip before raping her twice.

It was the third time Harrison, originally from Wolverhampton, had been in trouble for sexually assaulting girls.

When he was 13 he was given a formal warning for indecently assaulting a seven-year-old and when he was 15 he was taken to court for threatening to rape a 15-year-old classmate.

Detective Chief Inspector Steve Chapman, of Durham Police, said a pathologist found Harrison had died of ‘multiple injuries’.

Last night criminology expert Professor David Wilson, of Birmingham City University, said the extremely violent nature of the attack was significant.

He said: ‘The question is how can something like this take place in Frankland and why didn’t the staff protect him?’

The Ministry of Justice said the incident was a matter for police. ..Source.. by Chris Greenwood and Paul Sims

Police reveal sex offender's past in blaze death inquiry

3-6-2012 United Kingdom:

A former Leicester man who died when his flat was deliberately set on fire was a convicted sex offender, police have revealed.

Officers disclosed Andrew Heath's criminal history – including offences against young boys in Leicester – this week, three months after his death in his flat in Worcester.

Police are examining the possibility that the arson attacks and the 52-year-old's past offences may be linked.

Mr Heath, a former member of Leicester Male Voice Choir and a fan of Leicester City, the Tigers and the county cricket team, dialled 999, knowing he was trapped in his flat in Chedworth Close, Warndon, at about 4am on December 14.

West Mercia Police have now revealed Mr Heath had committed five sexual offences, including gross indecency and indecent assault, between 1984 and 1999 in Leicester and Birmingham.

His victims were boys aged between 14 and 17. Some of the offences were committed before the age of consent for gay men was lowered from 18 to 16 in 2000. Detectives said they had no records of any offences or complaints against him since he moved to Worcester in 2001.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Williamson, of West Mercia Police, said: "We have looked at whether these offences could have been a motivation for someone to target Mr Heath, but to date we have no evidence of this.

"Whatever Mr Heath did in his past, he died in a terrible way and his family have been left in limbo not knowing what happened to him.

"The person responsible is still out there on our streets and needs to be caught."

The 52-year-old's family are originally from Leicester's West End.

His sister, Leia Charleson and her parents, Les and Helen, now live in Eastbourne. Ms Charleson, 57, said: "I can't understand why anyone would do this."

A £20,000 reward has been offered to anyone who supplies the information which results in the arrest and conviction of those responsible for Mr Heath's death.

A number of people have been arrested in connection with the attack. None have been charged. ..Source.. by Leicester Mercury



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Three bailed in Andrew Heath murder case

THREE people who were arrested on suspicion of murdering Worcester man Andrew Heath have been released on bail.

Two men, aged 21 and 20, and a 17-year-old male youth were arrested on Monday at addresses in the city’s Warndon and Brickfields areas and taken in for questioning.

They were arrested as part of the investigation into the death of Andrew Heath, who was killed in a flat fire at his home in Warndon.

Mr Heath, aged 52, was found dead at his flat in Chedworth Close after a suspected arson attack in the early hours of Wednesday, December 14.

The latest arrests brings the total of people now arrested in relation to the killing to 10. ..Source.. by Freya Leng

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Police reveal Worcester arson victim was a paedophile

4-5-2012:

A Worcester man, who was killed after an arson attack on his home, was a convicted paedophile, according to West Mercia Police.

Andrew Heath, aged 52, was found dead at his flat in Warndon last December.

Police confirmed he was convicted for gross indecency and indecent assault against teenage boys five times during the 1980s and 1990s. These assaults happened in Leicester and Birmingham- before Mr Heath moved to Worcester.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Williamson, who is leading the operation, said:

""I have taken the decision to make public details of previous offences committed by Andrew Heath because it may have some bearing on our inquiries.

"Since his death a lot of rumours have been circulating around the local community in Warndon about Mr Heath, some of them quite fanciful, and we believe these may have hampered our investigation. We wish to set the record straight and use this as another opportunity to appeal to the public for any information".

"a lot of rumours have been circulating around the local community in Warndon about Mr Heath, some of them quite fanciful, and we believe these may have hampered our investigation"

West Mercia Police say they have no records of any offences or complaints against him since he moved to Worcester.

DCI Williamson said:

"Whatever Mr Heath did in his past, he died in a terrible way and his family have been left in limbo not knowing what happened to him."

A total of 10 people have been arrested over his death. To date, nobody has been charged.

Police increased the reward for information leading to finding Mr Heath's killer from £10,000 to £20,000. ..Source.. by ITV Central

Accused gay molester killed

1-16-2011 Jamaica:

A man who police say was accused of raping little boys in Tivoli Gardens in Kingston was among at least three persons shot dead Friday night.

An investigator from the Major Investigation Taskforce (MIT) said the man, who was identified as 42-year-old Winston Pennington, was found with a single gunshot wound to the head on Bustamante Highway at about 11:40 pm.

The police said Pennington was shot at point-blank range, and that a spent shell and a 9mm round were taken from beside his body.

"He was also called 'Black John', and so far our investigations suggest that he may have been killed because he reportedly molested youths in the community," the investigator, who declined to be named, told the Sunday Observer.

The murder -- the first recorded in the area by the police since the extradition of former Tivoli Gardens strongman Christopher 'Dudus' Coke last year -- kept the police busy combing for leads. Up until press time they said they had still not identified any suspects.

In the meantime, police theorise that William Robinson, who was found with gunshot wounds at the rear of his business place on Chisholm Avenue in Kingston, may have been a victim of extortion.

According the police, at least one gunman pounced on Robinson at about 11:00 pm, demanding money from him, before firing on him through the window above the counter.

Robinson was taken to the Kingston Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead, the police said.

In the third incident, homicide investigators were, up to late yesterday afternoon, processing a crime scene at a house on Norman Crescent in East Kingston, from which a man was chased and shot dead on Elletson Road.

Police say 33-year-old Wajin Warren, whose body was found sprawled on the roadway, was chased by a gunman from the premises where he had gone to visit his girlfriend.

"The gunman ran him down from Norman Crescent, on to Norman Road, and onto Elletson Road in the vicinity of Telephone Street where he shot him," the MIT investigator said. ..Source.. by COREY ROBINSON

Man kills wife's rapist

12-17-2011 India:

NAGPUR: A woman's husband killed a farm labourer after catching him red-handed raping his wife on Thursday night at Parasingha about 62-km away from city. Katol police arrested the woman's husband for murder and also booked three more, including the deceased, for gang rape. A school clerk is also among the two arrested for the gang rape.

Akash Kawrati, 27, was a tractor driver and labourer, who came from neighbouring state of Chhattisgarh along with wife and two children, to eke out a living around six months ago. Ravindra Sharmate, another farm labourer in the village, had befriended Kawrati who belonged to the same community.

Police said Sharmate approached Kawrati requesting to arrange a feast for him and his friends Gautam Wagh and Gautam Bagde. Wagh is employed in a school as a clerk. It is learnt that Bagde apparently managed to take Kawrati away on his bike on the pretext of purchasing liquor from a shop around one kilometre away from the house. Kawrati's wife Prema (name changed) was at home preparing the feast along with her two children. Sharmate and Wagh were also present.

As Bagde took Kawrati away, Wagh and Sharmate took the opportunity to molest Prema. Police said that Wagh had already raped Prema. Sharmate was forcing himself upon Prema when Kawrati and Bagde returned.

Catching Sharmate in the act, an enraged Kawrati immediately attacked him with axe and stones. Seeing Kawrati, Bagde and Wagh fled the spot. Kawrati relentlessly assaulted Sharmate until he collapsed, said police.

It was on the following morning that Sharmate's family learnt about the incident and rushed to Katol police station. Sharmate's body was still at Kawrati's house when police reached the spot. Police said that Sharmate had no shirt on him. Kawrati had later put on the trousers on Sharmate's body.

Prema too filed a complaint against Bagde and Wagh following which Katol police also arrested Wagh and Bagde for gang rape. ..Source.. by Times of India

Sex offender possibly murdered

12-6-2011 Canada:

Police believe a sexual offender who died last week while serving time in Mission Institution was murdered.

Officers with Correction Service Canada (CSC) discovered an unresponsive male inside his cell at the medium security prison around 10: 45 p.m. on Friday.

Emergency services were called to the scene, however the victim could not be revived and was pronounced dead.

As a result, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) was called to the scene, and an autopsy was scheduled for early this week.

"Investigators continue to look into this suspicious death," Sgt. Jennifer Pound of IHIT said in a press release.

"It appears to be a homicide and the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team . . . has been called in and has since taken conduct of the investigation."

CSC identified the victim as 39-year-old Troy Squires, although the IHIT would not confirm that because the victim's next of kin had yet to be notified.

Squires had been serving an indeterminate sentence for forcible confinement, sexual assault, uttering threats to cause death/harm, assault with a weapon and overcome resistance. He began serving that sentence in January of 2006. The CSC will also review the incident, said Brandon Banks, assistant warden of management services for CSC, in a press release.

Mission Institution is a medium security facility that houses roughly 250 inmates. ..Source.. by Cam Tucker, The Times

Prison staff should have protected paedophile who was disemboweled by inmates

10-4-2011 United Kingdom:

Paedophile Mitchell Harrison met a macabre and grisly end after being disemboweled in a prison attack by fellow inmates.

Look away if you’re squeamish, but the serial sex attacker was butchered with makeshift weapons, thought to be razor blades melted into toothbrush handles, after allegedly boasting about his sick crimes

Our gut instinct may well scream that a man who brags about raping a 13 year-old girl may have deserved such a bloody and hideous death. That this was justice in its most primitive sense.

However, this is England, 2011, a so-called civilized society where the rule of law still governs. And though it may be hard to swallow, what’s morally right and legally acceptable can be mutually exclusive.

The authorities at Frankland Prison in County Durham should face a full criminal investigation and Harrison’s family have a right to claim compensation for his unlawful death .

Every prisoner is entitled to full state protection, however horrible their crimes – indeed the greater the horror the more they need protecting.

How on earth can such a violent atrocity ever occur in one of Her Majesty’s prisons? Especially when this place has previous – Soham killer Ian Huntley had his throat slashed in the same jail only last year.

Defendants like this are prime targets for in-house vigilantism. Have the authorities learnt nothing?

Last year I supported Ian Huntley’s right to sue for £100,000 when he was attacked.

And that’s why I support Harrison’s family in suing the prison for every penny it can get.

Breaking the law is a costly business.

This mistake will probably cost the hard-pressed tax payer millions.

Only the other day the High Court ruled that banned extremist Sheikh Raed Salah could claim compensation for unlawful detention by immigration officers because they failed to explain to him ‘in a language he could understand’ precisely why he was being detained – a technical breach of the rules. The pro-Palestinian hardliner, described in the Commons as a ‘virulent anti-Semite’ is banned from this country.

His entry was illegal. But nevertheless now he is here, is entitled to being protected by the law of the land.

It’s essential that those responsible for those protecting us uphold that law. Otherwise we have to pick up the tab.

And until State protectors do their job properly, we’ll keep on paying. Now, where’s the morality in that? ..Source.. by Nick Freeman

Homicide victim a convicted sex offender

9-16-2011 Canada:

Hamilton’s most recent homicide victim, George Washington Burnett, was a convicted child molester.

Court documents obtained by The Spectator show Burnett pleaded guilty to sex-related offences in 1993 involving three victims, whose identities are protected under a publication ban. He was sentenced to seven years in a penitentiary.

The abuse took place during two time periods. The first was in the mid-1970s. The second occurred over several years, ending in the early 1990s.

Burnett, 82, was found dead in his bed at his Stirton Street home with a knife in his neck on the evening of Sept. 7. His son David and concerned friends had come to check on him and found his body.

Police said he was last seen by several people around noon the day before.

Neighbours have remembered Burnett, a former pastor, as a deeply religious man whom one neighbour said was like everybody’s grandfather.

Hamilton police say they are confident the murder was not random, but would not comment on whether his death was connected to his past. Staff Sergeant Steve Hrab, of the homicide unit, said there is some sort of relationship between Burnett and his killer.

“This individual wasn’t a stranger to the deceased,” Hrab said.

When asked if police are looking at someone in the neighbourhood, he said: “That’s a possibility, but it’s not conclusive to just that.”

Hrab described Stirton Street, in the central lower city near Sanford Avenue North and Wilson Street, as a close-knit neighbourhood. Burnett was known to most of his neighbours and they knew it was unusual that he had not been seen for more than a day.

One of the victims Burnett was convicted of molesting spoke to The Spectator.

She stoically recalled details of the abuse, which began more than 20 years ago when she was nine years old. The woman, now 30, read about the homicide in the newspaper and wondered if it was the same George Washington Burnett.

She hadn’t seen or spoken to Burnett since he was sent to prison. No one told her he lived about a 10-minute drive away. News of his death brought back memories.

“I started thinking, ‘Well maybe somebody from before that he did something to had come back to get revenge.’ Or maybe he did it to someone’s kid,” she said.

The woman said the abuse started about a month after she met Burnett. She said he would cover her mouth so she couldn’t scream and threaten her by saying he would send her away and she would never see her family again. She never told anyone what happened, not even her mother.

“I was scared to tell anyone, he put the fear in me,” she said. “I just remember being in shock, I don’t remember ever having emotion. After this happened, I just had to deal with it.”

The woman broke down when she talked about how Burnett changed her life — she was always afraid of men and new people until she got older.

“I never had boyfriends growing up, I felt like I never had a normal childhood because of that.”

A few years into the abuse, she was confronted by a woman who said Burnett raped her. At first she denied anything had been done to her, but when she found out she wasn’t the only victim, she broke her silence and told her family. Burnett was charged with five offences in 1993. He eventually pleaded guilty to three of those charges.

She never saw him again.

Following his death, neighbours — who say they knew little about Burnett — were deeply saddened. They described him as a wonderful man whom everyone looked after. He spent holidays with the folks across the street, and others helped him with meals and chores. They said Burnett was always alone and some recalled him living on Stirton for 10 to 15 years.

Burnett had seven children and several grandchildren. He once worked at Menasco Aerospace in Oakville as an engineer. Before he went to prison, he was a pastor at a local church.

Some of Burnett’s family members declined to speak to The Spectator. They held a funeral service for him Friday morning.

Police set up a command van in the neighbourhood on Thursday hoping to interview about 30 people they had not yet spoken to. Hrab said they did reach some of them, but would not say whether police learned any new details about the case.

“I don’t want the people responsible to know what we are thinking,” Hrab said. ..Source.. by Stacey Escott

Arm found on beach belongs to missing rapist

3-31-2011 Ireland:

Police in the Republic of Ireland have identified a human arm, found on Dollymount Strand last November, as belonging to a convicted rapist.

The man was named last night as 46-year-old James Nolan, of Fairlawn Road, Finglas, in west Dublin. He has not been seen since he was released from Portlaoise jail last November after serving a three-year sentence for a burglary in Booterstown, south Dublin, in 2005.

Nolan was arrested for the burglary as a result of fingerprints taken 19 years earlier when he was detained for the rape. He was jailed for 14 years in 1988 for the rape and false imprisonment of a woman.

Gardai said last night that his disappearance after his release from jail had not been notified to them and he had not been listed as a missing person.

Last night, officers were trying to contact members of his family to inform them of the find.

The limb was found on the beach on February 8 last. As part of their inquiries, gardai sought international co-operation from other police forces through the Interpol network.

As a result of assistance from British police, a DNA match was made recently which confirmed that it was Mr Nolan's arm.

Investigators acknowledged last night that they had no information yet on the circumstances surrounding his disappearance, when exactly he went missing and whether he had been killed.

One officer said their inquiries could now become more focused as a result of the positive identification through the DNA tests on the arm.

During Nolan's trial for burglary, the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that it was a fingerprint taken from him when he first went into custody in the 1980s that led to his arrest for the later offence.

The court was also told that he had other previous convictions for larceny and road-traffic offences.

Judge Katherine Delahunt noted that a probation report had shown a high risk of re-offending due to Nolan's use of alcohol and drugs.

She said that she had taken into account his "significant previous convictions" and the fact that he had twice opted for trial before pleading guilty.

But she said he would be given limited credit for not putting the victim of the burglary through the ordeal of a trial.

The judge suspended the final 18 months of the sentence and imposed 12 months' probation. She also ordered him to undergo alcohol and drug treatment. ..Source.. by Belfast Telegraph

Man who killed sex offender could spend 6 years in jail

3-28-2011 Canada:

A Montreal crown prosecutor has recommended six years in jail for a man convicted in a vigilante-style killing.

Patrick Belanger was convicted of the manslaughter death of 63-year-old Leonard Wells at a Snowdon-area apartment building.

In July 2009, Belanger attacked Wells after he spotted child pornography on the man’s computer.

Belanger became angry and began punching Wells repeatedly.

The victim died in hospital.

Wells was a known sex offender from Ontario.

During a pre-sentencing hearing at the Montreal courthouse Monday afternoon, lawyers debated what sentence the 28-year-old Belanger deserved.

In his arguments, crown attorney Thierry Nadon said a clear message needed to be sent that people should not take justice into their own hands.

On the other side, the defense argued three years behind bars would be enough. In court, lawyer Julien Archambault discussed his client’s alcohol and drug problems, and argued his client was a victim of sexual abuse in his youth.

Therapist Clement Proulx was one of eight people to testify for Belanger.

“This is somebody who has less than one per cent of a chance of recidivism, of committing another crime like that, of committing any crime. He doesn’t have a background of criminal history,” he said.

Eric Schorer is the janitor at the building where the crime took place.

He agreed Belanger deserved a less harsh sentence.

“I don’t think he wanted to kill him. He’s a normal type of person. He needs a break in life. He had a really rough life,” Schorer said.

The crown’s suggestion was in line with a similar recent case.

In 2009, a British Columbia resident received seven years in prison for attacking a suspected pedophile with a baseball bat.

Clifford Frederic Martin struck his victim as he lay sleeping.

The man he killed was accused of molesting a 13-year-old girl.

Justice Louise Boudreau will hand down a sentence on April 21. ..Source.. by Global Montreal

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Child-porn discovery not a 'licence to kill': Canadian man who beat his neighbour to death after finding child pornography on his computer will serve six years behind bars

4-1-2011:

A man who beat his neighbour to death after finding child pornography on his computer should serve six years behind bars, says the Crown.

Patrick Belanger, 28, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the July 2009 beating death of Leonard Wells, 63, in west-end Montreal.

Prosecutor Thierry Nadon told a Quebec Court judge the sentence would send a clear message to society that vigilante killings are unacceptable and that a man's pedophilic tendencies don't give citizens "a licence to kill."

Belanger will be sentenced on April 21.

He was initially charged with first-degree murder following the attack on July 25, 2009. He had been helping Wells to move and had asked to use his computer while the two were taking a break.

He flew into a rage when he stumbled across images of children being sexually assaulted. Belanger called 911 and warned he would take matters into his own hands unless Wells was arrested immediately. He began punching and kicking the man when police failed to arrive after 20 minutes.

Belanger called 911 a second time as Wells lay in a pool of his own blood. The victim was transported to hospital in a coma and died a month later.

Belanger later told the court the child-porn images triggered memories of his own father's tale of childhood sexual abuse. The defendant also said he was drunk at the time of the beating and he had been an alcoholic for several years.

But the Crown said the "horrific" and "revolting" images did not give Belanger an excuse to kill a man.

"We cannot allow people to mete out their own justice," Nadon told the court.

"(Otherwise) we would be promoting anarchy. Incidents such as this one ... do not give him a licence to kill."

The prosecutor said the fact Belanger waited 20 minutes to administer the beating was evidence the killing was premeditated.

Defence lawyer Julien Archambault countered Belanger had no criminal record and has been in alcohol rehab for two years.

He requested a three-year prison term.

Belanger told judge Louise Bourdeau he's a changed man and was "not thinking rationally" at the time of the deadly attack.

"I'll have to pay for what I did," he added. "I have no hard feelings towards the Crown. Justice must be served." ..source..