Trial of Gary William Dobbie

[Avon]

(Edit:- Just realised I’m still “friends” with him and a number of other CH staff from my time. I plan to leave that as-is I think - see if anyone takes over his account, given there’s still some out there who unbelievably think he’s innocent!)

I see Bob Sillett is still friends with him.

[J.R.]

Oh, the joys of social networking !

[Great Plum]

(Edit:- Just realised I’m still “friends” with him and a number of other CH staff from my time. I plan to leave that as-is I think - see if anyone takes over his account, given there’s still some out there who unbelievably think he’s innocent!)

I see Bob Sillett is still friends with him.

It probably means nothing as lots of people won’t realise they still are friends on fb - I’ve no idea is RDTS still uses facebook

[wurzel]

I think when using the facebook term "friends" you have to remember that means "socially linked to" not like real world usage of friends as meaning "a person with whom one has a bond of mutual affection"

[adlop]

Not that it matters, but I don’t even remember GWD and JAH being particularly close at school. They weren’t an obvious pairing where guilt by association may naturally occur.

Each year they took a group of selected pupils on reading trips, to the lakes or maybe some other national park. I think they did history trips too but I agree they didn't necessarily seem to hang around together on a daily basis.

[HMCH]

Is there anyone who was at the trial who would be willing to PM me? I am interested in the character witness testimony.

[J.R.]

Is there anyone who was at the trial who would be willing to PM me? I am interested in the character witness testimony.

I believe there were one or two who attended certain days of the trial. Unfortunately, I can't help more than that.

[richardb]

I believe there were three.

One was Oliver Monckton who was a pupil at Shrewsbury school and who bears an uncanny resemblance to the young man who accompanied Dobbie to court in the ITV footage which LHA posted a link to.

The other two appear to have had CH links but I couldn't say for sure who they were.

[Otter]

I am interested to see at sentencing whether anything illegal/relevant was found on Dobbie’s electronic devices. It is inconceivable that there wouldn’t have been a search of them with this kind of offence, although I have seen no mention of this with any of the other CH convicts. Some may be computer-illiterate, but Dobbie has Facebook and is young enough to have still been teaching when technology had become ubiquitous.

I spent 5 years working for the Probation Service, including with people convicted of sex crimes against children, both physically and through viewing/sharing illegal images. My role was mainly office-based but I also did some training to end up working on treatment programmes for people convicted of online offences.

In short, people who commit crimes like Dobbie’s, involving numerous victims and enduring over a long period, almost always have child pornography on their computer. Their life revolves around the offending, they take life/career opportunities solely for the purpose of coming into contact with children, it is what they think about every day, they are addicted, and when they can’t physically access a victim, they go online to do it.

[richardb]

I agree with you Otter that it is highly likely that they will have examined computers, phones etc for child pornography. If they had found any then he would have been charged as it is appropriate to "mark his card".

One difficulty with Dobbie is that at the time of his arrest, he was living in France and outside the jurisdiction of any English search warrant. Any such searches would therefore have been dependent upon the French police's co operation.

[Otter]

Thank you for the explanation, Richard. I had forgotten about the living abroad aspect.

[postwarblue]

I am interested to see at sentencing whether anything illegal/relevant was found on Dobbie’s electronic devices. It is inconceivable that there wouldn’t have been a search of them with this kind of offence, although I have seen no mention of this with any of the other CH convicts. Some may be computer-illiterate, but Dobbie has Facebook and is young enough to have still been teaching when technology had become ubiquitous.

I spent 5 years working for the Probation Service, including with people convicted of sex crimes against children, both physically and through viewing/sharing illegal images. My role was mainly office-based but I also did some training to end up working on treatment programmes for people convicted of online offences.

In short, people who commit crimes like Dobbie’s, involving numerous victims and enduring over a long period, almost always have child pornography on their computer. Their life revolves around the offending, they take life/career opportunities solely for the purpose of coming into contact with children, it is what they think about every day, they are addicted, and when they can’t physically access a victim, they go online to do it.

Which shows that once caught, paedophiles should never again be released.

[richardb]

Most people slow down as get older but experience tends to suggest paedophiles do not. They remain a risk until well into old age.

[AMP]

One difficulty with Dobbie is that at the time of his arrest, he was living in France and outside the jurisdiction of any English search warrant. Any such searches would therefore have been dependent upon the French police's co operation.

Wasn't he teaching at Shrewsbury when he was arrested?

[richardb]

You may be right. But he had his home in France by then which complicates.

If they had found indecent images of children, he would have been charged.