Court Extra - Football league match official remanded in custody, flasher back in court, and Kettering man aged 80 jailed for having a knife

A football league official has been remanded in custody after being charged with a string of sex offences.

Gareth Viccars, from Oldbrook, Milton Keynes, has been charged with a string of sex offences said to have happened in Kettering and wider Northamptonshire in October last year.

The 46-year-old, who has acted as an assistant referee in the EFL and FA Cup, is being held in custody after his first appearance at Northampton Magistrates’ Court earlier this month.

Viccars is charged with two counts of inciting a teen girl to engage in sexual activity, engaging in sexual activity in front of the child and three counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child.

His case was sent straight to crown court by magistrates and he is due to appear before a judge later this month for a short administrative hearing.

Two neighbours in Great Doddington have been remanded in custody on serious drugs and weapons offences alongside three others.

Ian Vanbeck, 39, and Terry Stock, 42, both of John Gray Road are being held ahead of a trial due to take place over the summer.

A third man, Steven Connelly, 38, from Minerva Way in Wellingborough has also been charged as well as a fourth alleged conspirator, Thomas Aughey, 42, of Cowper Road, Wellingborough.

Their fifth co-accused is Jade Lawless of Damherst Piece, Brixworth.

Stock has not yet entered pleas to charges of illegal possession of a shotgun and cartridges, as well as conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs between December 1, 2024 and January 11, 2025.

Vanbeck is charged with possession of criminal property (money) a firearm and ammunition, as well as conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs.

Connelly is charged with possession of a firearm and conspiracy to supply Class A and B drugs.

Aughey and Lawless are accused of conspiracy to supply Class A and B drugs as well as possession of criminal property (money and clothing), possession of an adapted bump stock and a dart gun.

The five will appear again at Northampton Crown Court for a short hearing in June.

An 80-year-old man from Kettering has been jailed for two separate counts of knife possession.

John Chapman, of St Peter’s Avenue, was caught by British Transport Police with a pair of scissors last August. On the same day he had assaulted a woman at Stevenage and had also racially abused another woman during the same incident.

He was again caught by West Midlands Police at Wellingborough Train Station with another pair of scissors in December last year.

He appeared before Judge Rupert Mayo at Northampton Crown Court on Friday, May 16, and was given 50 weeks in prison.

The perpetrator of a town centre sexual assault in Kettering has admitted his crime.

David Downer, 61, of London Road, pleaded guilty to one count of sexual touching when he appeared before Northampton Crown Court this week.

He admitted the offence that happened late in the evening on February 3 last year in Kettering.

Downer will be sentenced next month.

The trial of a former police officer accused of rape will take place later this year.

Paul Brown, of Storksbill Road, Corby, was a former Metropolitan and Northamptonshire Police officer. The 57-year-old is charged with one count of rape and one of kidnap, as well as a count of coercive and controlling behaviour, in that he is said to have used his status as a former officer to prevent her from seeking help.

He has not yet entered formal pleas to any of the charges but a trial date has been set for the end of September.

Police have obtained a domestic violence protection order against a Corby man.

Andrew McElhinney, who has previous convictions for indecent exposure at the Eyebrook Reservoir, was at Northampton Magistrates Court earlier this month where police were applying for the 28 day order to be imposed.

Magistrates granted the order, which bans the 56-year-old from contacting a named woman or from going to her property.

McElhinney previously changed his name to Andrew Ross after being outed as a sex offender following previous court appearances.

A Kettering paedophile who downloaded Duck Duck Go has avoided jail.

Keith Edwards, 45, of Belvedere Road, was already the subject of a sexual harm prevention order after he was prosecuted for sexual activity with a child back in May 2022.

But when his supervising officer looked at his mobile in August 2024 they found he had downloaded the search engine Duck Duck Go on his phone.

Edwards said that he had seen an advertisement for the website on the television and had downloaded it to ensure his bank details could not be accessed by criminals.

But the app allows users to search without a record of their history, which is against the terms of Edwards’ sexual harm prevention order.

He pleaded guilty to one breach of a SHPO when he appeared at Northampton Crown Court and was given a 12 month community order including six rehabilitation activity days.