STUART JEPHCOTE AND BRIAN PENDRED SHOCK NOTTINGHAM WITH CHILD SEX OFFENCES AND ILLEGAL PARTIES

In May 2013, a disturbing case emerged involving two men from Nottingham, Stuart Jephcote and Brian Pendred, who were found to have engaged in activities that put numerous children at risk. These individuals, who appeared to be well-integrated members of their local community, had managed to conceal their troubling pasts from neighbors and residents alike.

Jephcote and Pendred had been residents of Southchurch Court, a high-rise apartment complex in Clifton, Nottingham. They had been active members of the local residents' committee for approximately four years, during which they participated in community events and social gatherings. Their involvement in the community, however, was marred by their criminal histories, which included convictions for sex offenses involving minors. Jephcote had a series of convictions that included acts of gross indecency on a child, attempting to engage in sexual activity with a girl, and three separate indecent assaults on boys. Despite these serious convictions, residents remained unaware of their backgrounds or the fact that both men had been convicted of possessing six images of child abuse just the previous year.

Georgina Wyer, aged 66 and chair of the Southchurch Court Committee, expressed her disgust upon discovering the truth. She stated, “They were on the committee when I arrived about four years ago. It makes me feel sick – we don’t want them back in the flats.” Similarly, Linda Siddell, aged 50 and vice-chair of the committee, voiced her disappointment, saying, “Our young people have been let down. You take people at face value – we trusted them.”

Both men were subject to a court-imposed Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO), which was designed to restrict their interactions with minors. The order explicitly prohibited them from living with or communicating with anyone under the age of 16, taking photographs of minors, and engaging in activities near schools, nurseries, playgrounds, or recreational areas. Despite these restrictions, Nottingham Crown Court heard that Jephcote and Pendred repeatedly violated the terms of their SOPOs.

Evidence presented in court revealed that the men possessed photographs of children who had attended a Diamond Jubilee fête in the summer of 2012. Jephcote had been responsible for arranging the music and taking photographs at the event organized by the residents’ association, while Pendred was seen handing out sweets to children. By September of the previous year, the men had begun babysitting an 11-year-old boy, taking him on bike rides, and even purchasing a computer game for him, activities that were clearly in breach of their court orders.

Further breaches came to light during the investigation, including their involvement in organizing a community party during Christmas, which was attended by twenty children under the age of 16. Prosecutor James Hett described how Jephcote had taken pictures of the children at the event, and noted that Pendred, aged 48, was “very involved in the event.”

Police officers conducted a routine visit to the men’s home on January 27, during which they seized a computer and a memory stick. Subsequent internet searches on the devices included terms such as “boy sex,” “Harry Potter sex,” and “gay boy sex school,” indicating their inappropriate interests. The following day, detectives returned and discovered three additional computers in the residence. One of these contained seven indecent images of children, stored on the device.

Stuart Jephcote, aged 47, admitted to three charges of making indecent images of children and one charge of possessing such images. Both men also admitted to breaching their SOPOs on five separate occasions. The court heard that Jephcote had an additional nine months added to his sentence for possessing child pornography, to run concurrently with his other sentences.

Judge Michael Stokes QC sentenced both men to three years in prison each. He remarked that the offences demonstrated a failure in monitoring and supervision, stating, “You are both of low intellect. But the fact remains that I have no doubt at all that both of you fully understood what you were not to do in relation to young children, in particular boys under the age of 16.”

Following the sentencing, a police spokesperson commented on the case, emphasizing that Jephcote and Pendred had withheld critical information from authorities. The spokesperson added, “Despite this, proactive police work from officers of the DPMU (Dangerous Persons Management Unit) brought to light breaches of their SOPOs and further offences of indecent images of children in Mr. Jephcote’s case.”