Co Down woman beater, sex abuser and rapist all old pals from school
The three 29-year-olds have all been convicted of crimes against women
Three former school friends have each been convicted of serious crimes against women but only one has been jailed.
James McQuillan, Jeff Anderson and Dylan Rogers attended Regent House Grammar School in Newtownards, Co Down, each showing promise in their chosen fields.
Anderson and McQuillan were described by former fellow students as “best friends”, Anderson and Rogers played rugby in the school’s first team and they had all socialised together.
But in the past 20 months the men, aged 29, have between them gathered a string of convictions.
News update August 2020
A County Down singer who pleaded guilty to a number of sex offences will have his sentence referred for appeal on the grounds it may be “unduly lenient”.
Jeffrey Anderson, 29, was given a suspended sentence and placed on the sex offenders register last month.
He had pleaded guilty to offences including sexual assault and recording women for his own sexual gratification.
The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) said there were “sufficient grounds” for an appeal, Belfast Live reported.
Anderson, of Shore Road in Kircubbin, was charged after previously competing in two prime-time TV singing shows – Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Superstar, in 2012, and The Voice in 2014.
He admitted recording 11 females doing a private act, knowing that they did not consent to being recorded, between April 2005 and August 2013.
Ex-The Voice contestant admits sex offences
He also admitted sexually assaulting one of his victims in 2012 and assaulting another woman, occasioning actual bodily harm, in 2015.
On Saturday, the PPS confirmed the decision. A spokesperson said that while “sentencing is a matter for the judiciary, the director of public prosecutions does have the power to refer particular sentences to the Court of Appeal on the grounds that they may be unduly lenient”.
“In this case the director considered that there are sufficient grounds to refer the sentence to the Court of Appeal.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-53624685
Anderson, from Kircubbin, was convicted in May and sentenced in July, for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, assaulting another woman occasioning her actual bodily harm, and,11 counts of voyeurism spanning 2005 to 2013 when the former TV star secretly recorded women he befriended while they were in his family’s home in Newtownards.
Voice star Jeff Anderson who admitted secretly recording women for sexual gratification spared jail
Anderson appeared on July 3 at a remote hearing of Downpatrick Crown Court.
Former Voice contestant Jeffrey Anderson escaped a jail term when he was sentenced at Belfast Crown Court on voyeurism charges against 11 women, July 3, 2020
His victims, two of whom were 17 at the time of the crimes against them, heard him plead guilty via video link after spending almost four years waiting for justice. He was handed a three-year suspended prison sentence.
He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years and was made the subject of a 10-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order.
The Probation Board believes there is a “medium” likelihood Anderson will re-offend given his criminal planning and pre-meditation, risk-taking behaviour and lack of responsibility or self-control.
Four months before Anderson’s convictions, his pal McQuillan from Newtownards, was also in court.
James McQuillan, 29, was convicted of assault and breaching of a non-molestation order
On January 16, the Newtownards man was convicted of:
assault
threats to kill, and
breaching a non-molestation order.
His victim Ciara Hindman, 26, told Belfast Live she suffered a terrifying campaign of harassment after ending their two-year relationship.
McQuillan received a nine-month suspended jail term.
Ten weeks before that, Dylan Rogers, a pal of both McQuillan and Anderson, was convicted of the sexual assault and wounding of a woman.
On November 6 last year he was jailed for nine years and made the subject of a 21-year restraining order and was also ordered to complete 80 days of community service.
The former Ulster Under-19 rugby player, from Ballywalter, raped his girlfriend in a jealousy-fuelled attack at their Spanish home.
Student nurse jailed for sex assaults after appeal court judges deem first sentence ‘unduly lenient’
He forced her to have sex over two days after accusing her of looking at another man on the beach and telling her he was going to punish her.
Prosecutors detailed the horrific sadistic treatment he subjected her to in an indictment released ahead of his trial at a court in the Majorcan capital Palma. They accused him of pepper-spraying her on one occasion and throwing eggs on another, as well as making her dance naked and calling her “his slave” on the day of the first rape.
Dylan Rogers was arrested in Majorica after he was accused of sexually attacking and beating up his ex-partner
After forcing her to perform a sex act on him and raping her on August 7, 2018, Rogers stopped his victim from leaving the apartment the following morning and made her have sex again before physically attacking her.
The indictment added he raped her as he hit her and smashed her head against the wall while grabbing hold of her neck.
It said: “He told her he didn’t care whether he had to kill her and covered her mouth with tape.”
Naked except for a towel, she managed to flee their eighth-floor apartment in S’Arenal, near Playa de Palma, and sought help from a neighbour as Rogers showered.
The 23-year-old victim attended the sentencing court and heard Rogers had a previous conviction for wounding.
However, McQuillan’s victim Ciara Hindman, 26, called for sentencing to be addressed urgency.
She said: “The sentence given in my case was wholly inappropriate. It simply does not match the crime. There is no deterrent to reoffending.”
Her mother, Fiona Jamieson, from Co Antrim, said: “When young men feel they can act in whatever way they want with near impunity, the lives of young women will forever be at risk.
“A suspended sentence for the terror that my daughter went through is deplorable. For those who disagree with lengthy sentences I’d ask you to walk a day in our shoes.
“Think about my daughter beaten to a pulp, terrified and cross examined about her vicious assault, repeatedly attending court. Think about why you feel safe and why we do not. Think of these three friends – Anderson, McQuillan and Rogers – who attended school together, who played sport and music together, who socialised together.
“Not one, not two but all three have ended up with these horrendous convictions and all for crimes against women.
“Their arrogance and sense of entitlement have put young women in danger.”
Help is available for victims of abuse
Anyone who needs help to escape abuse can call the 24hr Domestic and Sexual Abuse helpline on 0808 802 1414. There are also non-verbal ways for victims to reach out through the Helpline, for example via web and instant message.
Further information and support is also available on the following websites:
https://www.womensaidni.org/get-help/local-groups/
Victims who need to ring the PSNI but are too frightened to speak, can use the ‘silent solution’ which means you can call 999 and press 55 when prompted. This lets police know it is a genuine emergency.
https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/three-former-co-down-school-18573398
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