Paedophile lollipop man and sex offender among five jailed

These five defendants have been jailed for a total of six years and seven months.

And while sentencing one of the defendants, a judge even managed to reference a classic hit from The Clash.

Here’s a round-up of their cases.

Stephen Cordy

Lollipop man Stephen Cordy was jailed after attempting to meet who he thought was a 15-year-old girl for sex.

Cordy, 55, messaged the ‘girl’ – who was actually a paedophile hunter group decoy account – on social media on April 11.

Despite the ‘girl’ saying she was 15, they arranged for him to come to her house in Drefach on Sunday, April 16.

He asked if he should bring anything, and when asked what, Cordy suggested she might want to tie him up. He also added he would bring a condom.

School lollipop man Stephen Cordy attempted to meet who he thought was a 15-year-old girl for sex. (Image: Dyfed-Powys Police)

On the agreed date, Cordy messaged the decoy saying he was at the address. The man behind the decoy account walked down the street to confront him – recording the meeting.

“He said he was only planning to meet her for a coffee and a chat,” said Ms Cutter.

The court heard the man did not contact the police – later saying he was busy moving house – but did post the video on social media.

Cordy was arrested by police on April 28 while parked in a layby near Neath.

Judge Huw Rees sentenced Cordy, of no fixed abode, to 13 months in prison for meeting a child after sexual grooming, and six months – running concurrently – for attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child. He must register as a sex offender for 10 years, and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.

Ostap Isak

Ostap Isak admitted setting up a cannabis farm as he rented out the upstairs of an Amman Valley home, while tending to one at another property.

Ukrainian national Isak had been smuggled in to the UK last year, and due to being unable to work legally, accrued debts to the criminal organisation. As such, he was told to cultivate cannabis plants at a property on Ceidrim Road in Garnant. In return, he was given rent so he could sublet the upstairs of a property on Cwmgarw Road in Upper Brynamman, and was also paid “a small wage”.

He was also instructed to start a cannabis farm at Cwmgarw Road.

On February 27, police raided Ceidrim Road and found 254 cannabis plants and growing equipment. Prosecutor Georgia Donohue said the cannabis grown at the address had a street value of between £79,000 and £237,000.

Although nobody was at the address, CCTV footage from a nearby house showed a man attended the house daily, being dropped off by a woman. Police traced the car to Anita Murphy-Patel.

On March 23, officers attended Murphy-Patel’s address, and Isak confirmed it was him in the footage. He was arrested, and police found a further 122 cannabis plants upstairs, which could produce cannabis worth between £37,955 and £113,866.

Murphy-Patel, 55, was also arrested, and handed an 18-month community order for permitting a premises to be used for unlawful purposes.

Isak, 48, was jailed for two years.

Kaden Kingsbury

Kaden Kingsbury threatened to kill two different women, threw a bottle at a woman in a convenience store and assaulted his support workers.

Kingsbury, who was a resident of Ty Hiraeth care home in Penygroes, had breached a restraining order by ringing the first woman’s place of work in Swansea.

When his social worker asked him about the calls, he said that he wanted to stab the woman that he had called with cutlery which he would hide up his shirt.

He had previously been convicted for stalking the same woman.

In a statement read out in court, the woman said she was tormented by Kingsbury, was constantly looking over her shoulder, and lived in fear of what he would do.

Kingsbury also admitted throwing a plastic bottle at the head of a different woman in the Premier store in Penygroes and shouting at her ‘I want to kill you’, as well as shouting a racial slur while in the store.

The eight assaults he admitted to involved support workers from Ty Hiraeth and one resident. They included biting, headbutting, repeated punching to the back of the head, kicking, pushing and throwing a chair.

Judge Huw Rees imposed a 24-month prison sentence, half of which will be served in a young offenders’ institution before Kingsbury is released on licence. A new five-year restraining order was made on behalf of the first complainant.

“The time has come for you to understand how serious this offending is,” said Judge Rees. “The penny needs to drop as far as you are concerned.”

James Hirst

James Hirst, 32, was placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely in 2015 after he was jailed for six years for sexual assault.

As part of this, he had to notify the police of any address he stayed at for seven days or more within a 12-month period, or where he stayed for at least 12 hours when an under-18 year old also lives or stays, and had to update police annually with his contact information and address.

When he was convicted in February of sending malicious communications to his mother, Hirst was made the subject of a community order and had an electronic tag fitted.

Days later, the tag flagged to police Hirst had stayed overnight at an address on Ffordd Aneurin in Pontyberem on February 11 and 12. Hirst was arrested the next day.

The owner of the address said she and the defendant were just friends and that she was aware he was a sex offender. She said she had invited him to stay at the house – where her 13, nine and six year old children live – on February 11 and 12.

James Hirst breached the terms of the sex offenders register. (Image: Dyfed-Powys Police)

He was arrested again on April 20 after he failed to attend an appointment with the police to update his contact information.

His mobile phone was seized, and data from the phone showed he stayed at the address on Ffordd Aneurin from January 15 to 26, and on January 30.

Hirst, of High Street in Narberth, had breached his sex offenders register notification requirements once before in 2019.

“It’s simply the case he believes these requirements are interfering with his ability to develop normal friendships and relationships,” said Mr Griffiths, defending.

“There’s a song from many years ago, Mr Griffiths, ‘I fought the law and the law won’,” Judge Paul Thomas said. “The law will win.”

For the first two breaches, Hirst was jailed for 12 months, running concurrently. He received a three-month sentence – running concurrently – for not attending the appointment with police. There was no separate penalty for breaching the community order.

Emyr Davies

Emyr Davies has been sent to prison after he failed to turn up to his trial for assaulting a woman in Pembrokeshire.

Davies, 33, of Golyg y Castell in Cardigan, failed to surrender to Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court for a trial on May 3, breaching his conditional bail.

The trial was for a charge of assault – which he denied – of a woman in Haverfordwest on June 26 last year.

He was found guilty in his absence on May 3.

At Aberystwyth Magistrates’ Court on June 14, Davies admitted a charge of failing to surrender to custody.

He was jailed for a total of 26 weeks across the two offences. He was also ordered to pay £150 compensation and £650 costs, and the victim of the assault was granted a restraining order against him.