A man from Bolton has pleaded guilty to a number of offences relating to the use of computer technology to create child sexual abuse content.
In what is being described as a “landmark case”, not just for Greater Manchester Police (GMP) but also nationally, Hugh Nelson, from the Greater Manchester town of Bolton, appeared at Bolton Crown Court last week (Friday 9 August 2024) and pleaded guilty to 11 offences in total.
According to GMP, the 27-year-old pleased guilty to three counts of encouraging the rape of a child under 13, one count of attempting to incite a boy under 16 to engage in a sexual act, three counts each of the distribution and making of indecent images, and one count of possessing prohibited images.
He also pleaded guilty to publishing an obscene article, and four counts of distributing indecent pseudo photographs of children, at an earlier court appearance back in July 2023.
Detective Constable Carly Baines, from GMP’s Online Child Abuse Investigation Team (OCAIT) – which led the investigation – said this case is “particularly unique” and “deeply horrifying”.
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Nelson was using computer programme Daz 3D, with an AI function within it, to transform images of real children, normal everyday photographs, into indecent child sexual abuse imagery, selling these to people online.
We hope this conviction will set a precedent for the future.
“Nelson was using computer programme Daz 3D, with an AI function within it, to transform images of real children, normal everyday photographs, into indecent child sexual abuse imagery, selling these to people online, as well as providing them for free,” DC Baines explained.
“It became clear to us after extensive trawls of his many devices by digital forensic experts, however, that his behaviour went far beyond what clearly he was seeing as a ‘business opportunity’, as not only was he creating and selling these images, but he was engaging in depraved sexualised chat online about childrenm and going as far as to encourage people interested in his online content to commit contact offences such as rape against children they knew or were related to.”
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DC Baines said the OCAIT worked “incredibly closely” with several teams across the country on this case, including national investigation units, and a specialist solicitor and prosecutor from the national Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) team, to gather the “strongest possible evidence to present”, and to determine how to proceed.
A Bolton man has pleaded guilty to creating child sexual abuse content using AI / Credit: Google Maps
“This case has been a real test of the legislation,” DC Baines continued, “as using computer programmes in this particular way is so new to this type of offending and isn’t specifically mentioned within current UK law.
“What this case will do is set a precedent for future cases, but hopefully also play a role in influencing what future legislation looks like, to ensure offenders can continue to feel the full force of the law.
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“I understand that computers, including AI enabled programmes, can be an incredibly useful and important tool, including for police forces, in particular teams working in the online space like us, but it’s clear from this case how dangerous it can also be when put into the wrong hands.”
Nelson currently awaits sentencing on 25 September 2024.
Featured Image – GMP
Bolton
‘Life-changing’ scheme helps house hundreds of Greater Manchester’s homeless people
Emily Sergeant
Hundreds of homeless people in Manchester have now been helped “get back on their feet” thanks to a successful pilot housing scheme.
Greater Manchester’s ‘Housing First’ pilot scheme was rolled out in 2019.
The scheme is all about recognising that “a good home has to be the first step to a good life”, according to Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), and since it was first introduced, it has primarily been helping people with chronic and long-standing experiences of homelessness into homes of their own, without preconditions.
Ongoing personalised wraparound support to manage issues, ranging from mental health problems to substance misuse, is also a key part of what the scheme’s all about.
Since 2019, the scheme then has helped a total of 413 people find “good, safe homes”, GMCA has revealed.
Around 75% of those housed have also sustained their tenancies too, with some even going on to form part of Housing First’s co-production panel – sharing their experiences, and making sure that the service continues to meet people’s needs.
Giving everyone a good, safe home is one of the best investments this country can make.
That’s why we want to take the lessons of our @GMHousingFirst pilot & follow @FinlandInUK by adopting it as our philosophy in Greater Manchester.
Because of the clear success of the pilot in our region, Greater Manchester and Mayor Andy Burnham are now calling on the Government to take the lessons learned from the scheme and embed them into a new approach to tackle the housing crisis nationwide.
Andy Burnham says he believes that giving everyone a good, safe home would be “one of the best investments the country could make”, as it would “take pressure off” other public services and public finances, and declared that our region is ready to follow in Finland’s footsteps by becoming the first UK city-region to adopt the ‘Housing First’ philosophy permenantly.
“The evidence is clear that it works, and when a pilot scheme gets results it shouldn’t end there – it should become the new normal,” Mr Burnham said.
A ‘life-changing’ scheme has helped house hundreds of Greater Manchester’s homeless people / Credit: Manchester City Council
“Housing First has shown that if you give people an unconditional right to safe and secure housing, backed up with personalised support, you set them up to succeed, so instead of winding it down, we should be scaling it up and turning it into a national mission.
“We’re starting that here in Greater Manchester.
“We’re bringing in new protections for renters, tackling bad landlords, and with the right powers and funding, we can deliver 75,000 new homes in this parliament.
“Our new Housing First Unit will drive this work forward, bringing together partners across our city-region with a clear goal – a healthy home for everyone in Greater Manchester by 2038.”
Featured Image – Flickr
Bolton
Bolton nurse whose 10-week-old baby died after being left home alone jailed
Emily Sergeant
A nurse whose 10-week-old baby died after being left home alone for more than eight hours has been jailed.
Ruth Auta appeared at Bolton Crown Court last week (Tuesday 10 September), where the court heard that she left her nurses’ accommodation shortly after 6:30am on 20 December 2022 to carry out her shift at Royal Bolton Hospital – leaving behind her son, Joshua Akerele, in the process.
The 28-year-old returned more than eight hours later, and then, at 3:24pm, called for an ambulance reporting that her son “was not breathing”.
Despite attempts by paramedics to resuscitate him, Joshua sadly could not be saved and was pronounced dead at 4:40pm, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) revealed.
Experts could not confirm the cause of Joshua’s death, and say he was “a healthy baby in all respects”.
It’s thought that he may have overheated due to the layers of clothing and bedding he was wrapped in, but other potential causes of death “could not be ruled out”.
Nurse, Ruth Auta, 28, left her 10-week-old baby, Joshua, home alone for over 8 hours while she worked her shift at Royal Bolton Hospital in December 2022.
Auta initially told the police that she had collected Joshua from a childminder after she had finished work, and then took him back home, fed him, placed him on her bed and fell asleep next to him, before claiming that it was when she woke up she found him unresponsive, however, police seized CCTV footage showing Auta leaving her flat at 6:47am without her baby and returning home alone at 3:13pm.
Messages to the childminder asking her to tell the police she had looked after Joshua that day were also found on on Auta’s phone, but the childminder told officers she had not seen Joshua for a few days.
In her police interview, Auta gave no comment to the questions asked. She was released on bail whilst a full police investigation was carried out.
Despite the fact Auta gave no comment to the questions asked in her police interview, she was charged with cruelty to a child and pleaded guilty at Manchester Magistrates Court on 24 May 2024, with case adjourned to 21 June 2024 for sentence, and finally sentenced to three years in prison at Bolton Crown Court last week.
Sara added “Ruth Auta has failed to show remorse throughout the case; she misled police about her childcare arrangements and then tried to evade justice by attempting to flee the country.
“Our thoughts and sympathies are with all those who been affected by Joshua’s death.”
Speaking following the sentencing last week, Sara Davie, who is the District Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West, said: “Whilst she went to work to provide care for other people, Ruth Auta left the very person who needed her care the most home alone.
“As a nurse she should have known the dangers of leaving her baby unattended. As she begins her sentence, she must now live with the consequences of the terrible decision she made that day.
“Auta has failed to show remorse throughout the case, she misled police about her childcare arrangements, and then tried to evade justice by attempting to flee the country.
Emily Sergeant -
12th August 2024 
