THE
C OU R IE R THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF NEWCASTLE STUDENTS
Issue 1204 Monday 8 February 2010 www.thecourieronline.co.uk
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In the shadows: head bowed and mouth downturned, Trevor Jackson hears his fate from Judge Lancaster at Newcastle Crown Court last Friday. Tony Hawks of the defence admitted that Jackson “had everything to lose�
‘Perverted’ Jackson jailed Paedophile lecturer imprisoned for four years and nine months after sex with a child she was willing throughout she was still very young and confused, and entitled to the protection of the law. “She was only 13. You were aware of this. When the relationship ended she was still only 14.� He also told the court that the complainant had said she felt she got too deep into the situation to pull out of it, and that the consequences for her had been “grave�. Speaking more broadly in his closing remarks, the Judge commented that: “This case sadly shows the dangers of unsupervised use of chat rooms by young people. “This demonstrates how easy seduction of a child by an adult can be and how easy it is for a man such as you to contact young females who would otherwise show no interest in them.� Jackson’s formerly glittering career was remarked upon both by
the defence, Tony Hawks, and by the Judge, who told Jackson: “You are well educated and have ability LQ \RXU FKRVHQ Ă€ HOG \RX ZHUH ZHOO thought of. Sadly, your career is effectively now over.â€? He was not deemed at risk of reoffending, and he was given credit for his plea and the remorse he exhibited. He will now remain on the sex offenders register for life, and all the images and computers involved in the case will be destroyed. During the sentencing, details of the case not formerly released were heard. When describing the process of grooming that took place through chat sites MSN and Zorpia, there was clear emphasis in the prosecutor James Adkin’s voice when describing the child involved as “13â€?; a “school girlâ€? who thought the man
she was speaking to was “about 19 or 20â€?. The prosecution told that court that the complainant had said Jackson asked during an early online conversation, “I’m a little older than you – do you mind?â€?, and that when entering the Grand Hotel in Jersey where the meetings took place, “Should I pretend to be your uncle?â€? It was also revealed that the girl had lost her virginity to Jackson. There was information given about how the allegations came to OLJKW LQ $SULO Ă€ YH \HDUV DIWHU the meetings occurred. It was said that the complainant wrote a letter to her mother, detailing what happened, explaining why she had not said anything sooner and how she felt about it. The complainant’s mother then went to the police, and Jackson was
arrested on June 2 2009. The complainant herself then picked him out of a line-up. A subsequent search of Jackson’s room at University uncovered underwear on which the complainant’s DNA was found, and a search of his home address uncovered a laptop and hard drives containing child pornography. This included a video of level four severity on the COPINE scale. The prosecution told, and later reconĂ€ UPHG WR WKH FRXUW WKDW SRUQRJUD phy of this level shows penetrative sexual activity between and adult and a child. He described it as “seriousâ€? and a “rather long clipâ€?. The nature of the video was also detailed by Tony Hawks, who described the “misfortuneâ€? of a colleague who had had to watch it in the process of the case. Continued on page 6
Downing Street
Controversy on campus
Are you there God?
The Guide
BUCS blow for Newcastle
Newcastle student, Frances Revel, travels to Number 10 to meet Prime Minister Gordon Brown as part of the Backing Young Britain Campaign News, page 9
6WXGHQW 6XSSRUW 2IÂż FHU 3HWH 0HUFHU hits back as the fall out from the Union’s vote against a ‘no platform’ policy for the BNP rages on Comment, page 10
Pastafarianism, Googlism and Jedi. Alexandra Maxwell explores the emergence of new world religions and their impact on today’s society Life & Style, page 16
Get the low down on all the music, arts, FOXEELQJ DQG ¿ OP HYHQWV KDSSHQLQJ in Newcastle this week with The Courier’s day-by-day pull-out guide Culture, page 22-23
University Performance Sport Director Fraser Kennedy speaks out on an unfavourable BUCS draw for his sides as the knockouts kick-off this week Sport, page 42
Caroline Argyropulo-Palmer Former Newcastle University lecturer, Trevor Jackson, was sentenced to four years and nine months imprisonment last Friday for child sex offences and child pornography. Jackson had already pleaded guilty to all charges at hearings in November and January, which include having sex with a 14-year-old girl he groomed over the internet and met on a number of occasions whilst she was only 13. His head was bowed and his mouth downturned as His Honour Judge Lancaster described him as: “A man who has a longstanding, unhealthy and perverted interest in teenage girls.â€? With regards to the case at hand, /DQFDVWHU VSHFLĂ€ FDOO\ FRPPHQWHG that: “You were determined to have sex with the complainant, although
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