Jailed in November at Truro Crown Court: Controlling thug, 'danger to children' paedo, and charity robber

A man who is a "danger to children" and a controlling thug who made the mother of his children's life hell are among the criminals jailed in Cornwall this month.

Several violent men are among those who have come before Truro Crown Court throughout November. They include paedophiles, a robber and a bicycle thief.

One man, who thought he walked free following his court sentencing in September, was jailed for two years and seven months after his victim appealed, saying his punishment was too lenient. Keep reading to hear about the vile crimes of those convicted and jailed this month...

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Benedict Everett

A convicted paedophile had indecent images of children and animal necrophilia, a court heard. Benedict Everett, from Lamorna in west Cornwall, is currently serving a seven-year jail sentence at HMP Ashfield for sexually assaulting a minor in the Penzance area more than two decades ago.

During his original sentencing hearing at Truro Crown Court in August it was heard how the 49-year-old former music teacher took advantage of the girl. The court was told it was many years later that his victim was strong enough to come forward. As a result, Everett was arrested in 2021 and made a full admission of his crimes to the police.

In autumn 2022, other charges were brought against Everett after a police investigation led to the examination of his electronic devices. It was then discovered that he was in possession of more than 900 indecent images of children, including at least 280 category A images, which are of the most severe, 147 category B and 254 category C images, with the rest not having been categorised.

Among the material found on his devices were 103 extreme pornographic images including sexual acts with animals, some dead and some alive.

Everett pleaded guilty at the magistrates' court in October to one count of possession of extreme pornography, three counts of making indecent images of children and one more charge of being in possession of 54 prohibited images of a child. He's now been banned from accessing the internet "until further notice" and has had one more year added to his prison sentence.

At a sentencing hearing at Truro Crown Court on Thursday, November 7, His Honour Judge Simon Carr said it would have been preferable for the case for which Everett was sent to prison and this one to have been brought before the courts at the same time.

In mitigation, Everett's barrister said he had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and had not tried to "wriggle away from his responsibility and was prepared to face the music".

Judge Carr said the latest offences were very serious involving extreme pornography and the possession of indecent images of children involving all categories and children of a very young age.

He said Everett had accessed Kick an app favoured by young people. For the indecent images of children charges, Everett received an additional year in prison on top of his current prison term, as well as a sexual harm prevention order for life and a ban on accessing the internet until a further court order says otherwise. He remains on the sex offenders register for life.

Mark Moore

A drug addict with a long list of convictions to his name stole a unique custom-made bike from a teenage boy just so he could feed his addiction. Mark Moore stole the bicycle from outside the B&M store in St Austell after it had briefly been left by the gardening compost bags outside by a 14-year-old local lad who came into the store with a friend.

The 45-year-old from St George's Road in Newquay, now living in the Bodmin area, spotted the bike, estimated to be worth £3,000 and designed by the lad's granddad with various parts, noticed that it was not padlocked and simply walked away with it so he could sell it to buy drugs.

At a sentencing hearing at Truro Crown Court on November 7 it was heard how 10 days later on July 17, 2023, Moore, who has 45 convictions for 108 offences, also walked into the Tengo Cafe in Fore Street in St Austell, with a view to use the toilets on the first floor.

However, he walked into one of the rooms used by the cafe's owners as their own dwelling and stole a game console worth £164. On the two occasions, Devon and Cornwall Police were called and CCTV was used to identify Moore, who is well known to the police.

The court was told that Moore, who is originally from the Leicestershire area, faced prison for a third-strike offence involving the burglary of a dwelling. A three-strikes law is a criminal law that mandates a lengthy prison sentence for a person convicted of a serious crime for the third time.

His defence barrister said the two offences had been spontaneous and spur-of-the-moment acquisitive offences after he relapsed into drug addiction.

His barrister said he moved to Cornwall to get away from the Midlands and drug addiction and to rekindle a relationship with his biological children. He said Moore's offending had reduced from 2020 but picked up again last year when he started using drugs again adding that a short custodial sentence earlier this year in connection with a non-dwelling burglary had done him a world of good in kicking his drug habit.

His Honour Judge Simon Carr said: "This is a three-strike case. I note how you have worked hard to fight your drug addiction but there is a problem as your recent conviction for burglary reveals." Moore was sentenced to 876 days in prison which is two and a half years in jail.

Neil Ellis

A brass band leader groomed a young girl for years for his own sexual gratification and raped her, a court has heard. Neil Ellis started grooming his victim when she was a child and when she turned 15 his grooming became physical and led to sexual touching.

At a sentencing hearing at Truro Crown Court on Thursday, November 7, it was heard that sexual assaults on his victim took place between November 11, 2002, and November 16, 2003, and resumed after Ellis, now 48, from Callington, was released from prison after he served a sentence for another sexual offence on a different child.

When she was 21, Ellis continued his controlling grooming behaviour and on one occasion between November 17, 2008, and November 16, 2009, he raped her in her home. The court was told that it took many years for Ellis' victim to find the strength and courage to report him as she feared that she would not be believed.

In January 2022 she reported him to the police for the rape and sexual assaults when she was under 16. He was arrested and later charged with two counts of indecent assault on a girl under 16 and one count of rape on a woman aged 16 or over.

Ellis pleaded guilty to the three charges at the earliest opportunity. In a victim impact statement read out in court, Ellis' victim said that what he did to her had affected her and would affect her for the rest of her life.

She said she constantly suffers from anxiety and finds it difficult and stressful to be around men, especially in positions of power. She told the court that in group situations she is constantly looking for where the exits are and worries someone will attack her.

Ellis' victim told the court that she has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), adding: "The nightmares I have continue to be as real now as when this happened to me all these years ago. It has a knock-on effect on my life. I suffer flashbacks that cause me to have panic attacks."

She said that what happened to her had damaged her relationship with some friends and family as some people didn't believe her at the time.

In her statement, she also told the court that despite years of therapy and being in her 30s now, what Ellis subjected her to continues to have a dramatic impact on her life and will do so for many more years to come.

Rupert Taylor, defending, said Ellis' victim had been vindicated by his guilty pleas and now people must believe she was telling the truth. He said that she had now thankfully been spared the trauma of having to relive it all by giving evidence in court and would now be enjoying a form of closure as Ellis is sent to prison.

Mr Taylor added: "Through me, he makes an abject apology. There is remorse to it. Many people try to lie or cheat their way out of justice, but not in this case. No one is, however, defined by a single thing. Several letters have been received on his behalf showing him as a man of good character and a respected member of the community. He has been trying to lead a proper life for many years."

His Honour Judge Simon Carr said he wondered how many of those who wrote positive character reference letters on behalf of Ellis had known of his previous conviction when he committed a contact offence against a child.

Sentencing Ellis to six years behind bars, Judge Carr said: "As a result of your grooming, after your sentence, you resumed contact with your victim until, in drink, you raped her in her own home. It took many years for your victim to feel strong enough to go to the police with her complaint.

"There was clear grooming and abuse of trust on your behalf. The effect this has had on her has been traumatic. Many decades on, she suffers each day as a result of it. She has shown enormous strength to report it and to come here today. This is something that will live with her for the rest of her life."

Ellis will also be on the sex offenders' register for life. There is a restraining order against him not to contact his victim for 10 years as well as restrictions on having contact with young people for 10 years.

John McKinney

A fraudster used other people’s names to obtain a passport and provisional driving licence, a court has heard. John McKinney, 42, also stole mail with chequebooks while working as a Royal Mail postman to write himself cheques to “stay afloat” while struggling financially.

McKinney, of The Glebe, Cubert, appeared at Truro Crown Court for sentence, having pleaded guilty to a series of offences, including making a false statement to obtain a driving licence, possession of an identity document with intent to deceive, perverting the course of justice, theft of mail, theft of a Rolex watch, two frauds by false representation and two counts of making an untrue statement to procure a passport.

Prosecuting the case, Tom Faulkner explained how in September 2015, McKinney applied for a passport using the name Mr Reece Warner and provided supporting documents alongside the application, which included a marriage certificate and a birth certificate.

The application was successful and a passport was sent to McKinney’s address, which he later used to open bank accounts. However, a year later, following intelligence that the passport was fraudulent, it was cancelled.

A victim impact statement read out on behalf of the real Reece Warner described how he found the whole experience to be “stressful and mentally draining” as he received debt collection letters and has had to attend passport interviews to prove his identity.

Mr Faulkner then told the court how in September 2019, McKinney applied for a provisional driving licence under the name Jack Brewer but supplied a picture of himself alongside it. McKinney then sat a driving test using the provisional and was subsequently given a driving licence under Mr Brewer’s name.

The court heard how a later investigation established that Hertz car rental company doesn’t allow cars to be used for driving tests or given to those who have a provisional licence, and the only person who hired out the car that day was McKinney.

While McKinney was in possession of the driving licence under the name Jack Brewer, he primarily used it to avoid collecting penalty points in his own name. In August 2023, McKinney also used the fraudulent licence, along with bank statements he had set up with Mr Brewer’s name, to obtain finance on a Volkswagen Golf, which was valued at just over £20,000.

Mr Faulkner explained that at the time, the defendant was in some financial difficulty and he would not have been able to take out finance using his own name and documentation. After successfully purchasing the car, McKinney set up policy insurance in his own name.

In September 2023, McKinney was employed by the Royal Mail as a postman in Truro. Mr Faulkner told the court that the defendant was in a position of trust in this role but during that time, he stole a number of chequebooks from post which were all intended for elderly residents in that area.

Subsequently, a number of the elderly residents came forward to say they never received their chequebooks and reported that cheques were issued from their accounts. It was found that the corresponding amounts were deposited into the Jack Brewer bank account, which McKinney had set up and previously used.

The fraudulent cheques made a combined total of just over £9,000. A handwriting expert was able to establish there was strong evidence that a group of cheques were written by McKinney and he later pleaded guilty to writing them.

Mr Faulkner said the most recent offence committed by McKinney was in January of this year, when he went to Dinero Jewellery in Penzance and pawned a Rolex watch worth £2,500. McKinney then returned to the jewellery shop in March and asked to see the watch but the box was found to be empty, so it was reported as stolen. However, when McKinney was arrested in September, he was found to be wearing the exact same watch with the serial number.

Defending the case, Ryan Murray told the court that McKinney wanted to provide an “abject apology” to his victims and that he was glad to learn that those who had their chequebooks stolen were reimbursed by the banks. He added that he did not know the identity of the individuals before stealing the chequebooks, so was unaware they were elderly and vulnerable.

Mr Murray explained that following the rise of interest rates and the cost of living in 2022, the mortgage on McKinney’s house had almost tripled and he was trying to make ends meet. He added that McKinney has since lost his property and “all that was previously precious to him”.

In sentencing, Judge Robert Linford described McKinney’s act of stealing post as a postman as being a “gross breach of trust”. He added: “The facts set out the depths of dishonesty to which you have sunk. This got worse when interest rates increased and you struggled to keep yourself afloat.”

Judge Linford said the offences are “too serious for anything other than a custodial sentence” and McKinney was sentenced to a total of 38 months imprisonment.

Philip Matthews

A pervert with a "distorted attitude" has been described as a "danger to children". Philip Matthews ended up in court after Devon and Cornwall Police were alerted that he was downloading illegal content.

A search of his electronic devices revealed he had downloaded videos and images of children as young as six being raped. At a sentencing hearing at Truro Crown Court on Wednesday, November 20, it was heard he had downloaded 74 Category A images, alongside 17 Category B images and 13 Category C images. Matthews was jailed for two years.

The most recent discovery happened while Matthews was already under police investigation for similar offences.

The court heard that Matthews, who has several convictions for 11 offences of making indecent images of children, received a two-year prison sentence in December 2016 when he offended again having received a suspended sentence the previous year.

In mitigation, Ryan Murray said Matthews, who pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent images of children at a previous hearing, had become desensitised to paedophilia, having been exposed to unhealthy material from a young age, which led him to "have a distorted attitude towards such material".

Mr Murray said Matthews' addiction to indecent images of children found online had been fed by a sense of isolation. He told the court: "When he moved to Bodmin, he didn't know anyone. When the nature of his past became known it led to isolation. This is a man who struggles to fit in and operates on the margins of society. Isolation then feeds his addiction. He has also recently lost his mother who had been a source of support for him."

His Honour Judge Robert Linford said Matthews is a man with a "disturbing list of previous convictions" adding that on this occasion he was found with indecent images of children when he was already under police investigation for a similar offence. Judge Linford said Matthews had breached a suspended sentence and had been put on a sex offender treatment programme in the past designed to address the root cause of his offending.

He added: "The course you went on has been found to be unsustainable and increased your offending. However, whether you access images of children being abused is up to you. No one is making you do it. One would have thought that having had a scare a few years ago, you would have been careful not to do it again, but you did do it again.

"There is no prospect of rehabilitation for you. You are a danger to children. These images are images of real children as young as six being raped for the entertainment of people like you. If people like you didn't watch, others would not film it."

Matthews was sentenced to two years in prison. He will serve 40 per cent before being eligible for release on licence. A sexual harm prevention order for 10 years was also imposed. He will be on the sex offender register for 10 years.

David Kevin Miller

A drug addict used a screwdriver and a shovel to rob a charity and threatened to plunge a shard of glass into a man's throat. David Kevin Miller robbed two charities within a few days of each other to fund his addiction, it was heard at Truro Crown Court on Wednesday, November 20.

On January 23 this year, he and another unidentified male broke into the Wheal Martyn Clay Works in St Austell and forced the door open using a screwdriver and a shovel. Inside, they damaged a heritage statue and stole a donation jar containing between £50 and £100. The pair also searched for cash and other valuables and, for some unknown reason, left a freezer door open, which caused the contents to spoil.

Miller, who has 29 convictions for 82 offences dating from 1993 to 2024 including for burglary of dwellings and non-dwellings and theft, was identified by the CCTV at Wheal Martyn. He was arrested and interviewed by police. While on police bail, on January 31 he broke into the Cornwall Neighbourhoods for Change charity in High Cross Street. He again made off with a cash box and stole two laptop computers.

He was identified by police from the CCTV from the charity's radio station and again was arrested. He was charged in connection with the two offences and received a 20-week suspended sentence at magistrates court having pleaded guilty. That sentence was later activated following another offence, and days after his release from prison, he robbed a man involved in the drug trade with another man.

At the sentencing, it was heard how, on May 18, Miller attacked his dealer in the hallway outside his home in St Austell, hit him with a glass bottle and again another five times after he had fallen to the floor until the bottle smashed. He then put a shard of glass to his throat and threatened him that "the shard would go into his neck if he moved".

Miller eventually made off with an iPhone, Nike trainers and £100 in cash. His Honour Judge Robert Linford said Miller's victim was involved in drug dealing.

Miller's barrister told the court that the 47-year-old, of no fixed abode, who pleaded guilty to one charge of robbery at a previous hearing, expected to be jailed. She said that he had grown up surrounded by drugs and his parents, who were addicts, put more value on scoring heroin than on looking after him and his two siblings.

"His home life was chaotic," she said. "He was exposed to things no child should be exposed to. Children were not as important as drugs for his parents. By 13 he was using drugs too. It was then that the three children were taken into care. It's not an excuse for his behaviour but it explains how he got to this position. He had no role model to show him how to function in society."

Miller's barrister said that by the age of 35 he had a normal life away from drugs with a partner and four children and worked as a chef in St Ives. For six years, the couple led a normal life, but when his partner had a breakdown and could no longer cope, he went back to using drugs again and the four children were taken into the foster care system.

She told the court that he became clean after a period of abstinence in prison but fell off the wagon once more when he moved to Bodmin.

"He hopes to use his time in prison to get clean," she added. "He has therapy with a psychologist and he's willing to reflect on his offending. He is looking to move back to the Blackpool area when he's released."

Judge Linford told Miller that stealing from charities was a "mean and despicable thing to do". He said Miller's victim may have been a drug dealer who told the trial "a dogeared pack of lies" but he still robbed him and attacked him.

Sentencing Miller to five years in prison, Judge Linford said: "You robbed him. You struck him with a bottle and held a shard of glass to his throat. You have an appalling list of previous convictions. You are a career criminal. You had a miserable childhood and escaped that deprived childhood by turning to drugs. This has been the root cause of your offending over the years. You had a family but you lost them to your drug use.

"I note how you are making the most of your time in prison and doing everything right and I hope that when you are released your life takes a different turn."

Aiden Drew

A brave young mum who spoke out after her ex-partner bruised her, strangled her and controlled her life for years has successfully appealed against his sentence. Aiden Drew, 30, will now go to jail as his sentence from a judge in Cornwall was officially declared too lenient.

Drew, of Green Valley Park in Bodmin, subjected the mother of his two children to six years of violence and coercive behaviour before she was able to escape the relationship. But appearing at Truro Crown Court in September, she heard how he wouldn't spend a day behind bars for it.

"I wanted him to get a year for every year he took from me and he got nothing," Olivia Grimwade said at the time, following the hearing in which her abuser received a two-year suspended sentence and a restraining order from Judge Robert Linford at Truro Crown Court.

The court heard how he repeatedly controlled his then-girlfriend, isolated her from friends and family and controlled her financially. He wouldn't let her attend doctor appointments or go to work. Distraught and sharing photos of the bruises inflicted on her, the now 25-year-old told CornwallLive then: "I just don't know how to accept that."

But now she doesn't have to after the mother-of-two successfully appealed against Judge Linford's sentence to the Attorney General's Office under the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme - and saw her abuser's sentence get revised.

An unduly lenient hearing was held on Tuesday (November 19), having been referred to the Court of Appeal. The result saw Drew given the revised sentence of two years and seven months imprisonment and he's now required to hand himself in.

"It's a huge relief," Olivia told CornwallLive. "It's a huge jump going from nothing to two and a half years and I don't know why the first judge let him walk."

She said following his release she even started seeing him around the shops she goes to and even in her gym. "Now for at least a year and three months, he can't get to me and my kids.

"It's really made a huge difference for me. He was so smug about it, thinking that he got away with it and I just couldn't let him think it was some big joke when he destroyed my life.

"I didn't know that you could appeal sentences and hopefully my story lets more people know that this is an option." Drew, formerly of Lostwithiel, appeared on Tuesday (September 10) to be sentenced having pleaded guilty to intentional strangulation and engaging in controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate relationship.

He was also charged with one count of assault causing actual bodily harm (ABH) but due to his guilty pleas to the other counts, this was not pursued by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Read the horrific details of the court case as reported at the time, here.

Olivia, who has a string of pictures documenting the bruises and marks he inflicted on her through the years, alongside the vile text messages he sent, including one saying he wanted to kill her, said following the sentencing that she would spend her life looking over her shoulder.

"And he just gets to move on with his and act like I'm the crazy ex while I have to deal with the repercussions of his actions," she said. Olivia said then that she "lost it" on learning her abuser would walk out of the court and continue about his life.

"I started screaming. It's not good enough. He should have got time and I'm going to keep complaining to the CPS and take it higher until I can get it looked at." You can read that full report, here.

She said she spent six years trying to find a way to leave the abusive relationship and hoping she had enough evidence to be taken seriously. So to see him granted a suspended sentence was heartbreaking. "I'm much happier with the outcome now," she adds.

Owen Dunstan

A dangerous rapist has been locked up for more than a decade after raping a woman and forcing himself on another in Cornwall. Owen Dunstan, 26, showed no remorse for his actions and even emotionally blackmailed one of his victims into not reporting what he had done to her.

Dunstan, of Chellow Road in Truro, appeared at Truro Crown Court for sentencing on Thursday, November 28, having been found guilty following a trial that ended in early November. He was found guilty of two counts of assault by penetration and one count of rape relating to two sexual assaults. He was found not guilty on a fourth count.

Appearing before the court to be sentenced, Dunstan is described as a dangerous predator who poses a high risk to women in the future. The court heard how he targeted two separate women during nights out and his actions had a lasting and substantial impact on their lives.

Prosecuting, Emily Cook told the court he targeted his first victim on a night out in 2020, detained her in a toilet and sexually assaulted her despite her clearly protesting against him. This particular incident only stopped due to interference by a friend of the victim.

At the request of the first victim, an impact statement was not read out in court but Ms Cook said: "[It] shows the incident has clearly had a substantial impact on all aspects of her life."

Dunstan then tried to pose as his girlfriend in an attempt to get this victim to not report matters to the police with a series of messages. "He was clearly using emotional blackmail to dissuade [the victim] from reporting matters by posing as [his girlfriend] and saying he was good with their children, that they loved him and they wanted to move on as a family," Ms Cook added.

He also directly contacted his victim and told her it was "a drunken mistake" and "he did not want it to ruin his life" in attempts to stop her from reporting the incident. She refrained from reporting this incident until hearing about a further offence committed by Dunstan.

He then sexually assaulted and raped his second victim in 2021 following a night out. The court heard how as soon as she was alone with Dunstan he brutally attacked her in a dark street on the side of a road and walked away as if nothing had happened. She was found distraught by a member of the public and this too has had a devastating impact on her life and future.

Defending, Jason Beale said Dunstan had no prior convictions and pointed out that sentencing guidelines say that adults between the ages of 22 and 25 are still developing neurologically so may be less able to evaluate the consequences of their actions. Dunstan was aged 22 and 23 at the time of the offences.

His Honour Judge Simon Carr said it was clear that Dunstan posed a high risk to women in the future. "You have shown no remorse for anything you have done and no empathy for the harm that you have caused."

He said the devastating impact will be with both victims for life. Dunstan was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment and will remain on the sex offenders' register for life. He must serve two thirds of that sentence before being eligible for release.

Officer in the case, police staff investigator Martin Skinner said: “We are pleased that justice has been done and that Owen Dunstan has been sent to prison for his offending.

“Dunstan showed no consideration whatsoever for his victims in his pursuit of sexual gratification. He targeted both of these young women following interactions in social environments.

"I would like to thank them for their immense bravery in giving evidence and for remaining engaged with what has been a lengthy investigation and court process. We will continue to thoroughly investigate any reports of such offending against women and girls.”

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