September 2012

Ashtead man Matthew Hall guilty of five child sex offences sent to prison

A man who pleaded guilty to five sex offences against a teenage girl has been sentenced to 22 months in prison.

Matthew Hall, of The Street, in Ashtead, committed the offences in September last year.

They included two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and one count of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, one count of possessing indecent images of children, and one count of taking indecent images.

The 22-year-old, who appeared at Guildford Crown Court on August 9, was sentenced to 22 months in prison and given a Sexual Offences Protection Order, which will mean he will be closely monitored by the Surrey Police public protection team.

He was also ordered to sign the Sexual Offenders Register when he was sentenced at the court on September 14.

Detective Constable James Chapman, of East Surrey public protection team, said: “I hope the sentence handed to Hall will encourage other victims of sexual abuse to come forward and proves Surrey Police will take all allegations seriously.

“All crimes of this nature are fully investigated by specialist officers and rest assured once convicted criminals like Hall will be closely monitored by a dedicated public protection team.”

Anyone who has been a victim of sexual assault or abuse should call the police on 101 or visit http://www.surrey.police.uk for advice.