In 2024, a convicted Leeds Paedophile Killer, Norman Bowen-Jones, who fatally assaulted a pregnant woman in a gruesome, sexually motivated incident, was apprehended while attempting to meet an underage girl at the Royal Armouries in Leeds after grooming her online.
Norman Bowen-Jones was incarcerated alongside his associate for the savage murder of a woman in a Durham flat in 1996. The couple had envisioned engaging in sexual intercourse with her and subsequently killing her. They received a life sentence and were mandated to spend a minimum of 13 years.
Norman Bowen-Jones, aged 45, was apprehended by the paedophile hunter organisation, Predator Exposure, after engaging with multiple kid decoy profiles last year.
He appeared at Leeds Crown Court via video link from HMP Leeds and was sentenced to imprisonment again this afternoon.
Prosecutor Gareth Henderson-Moore stated that Norman Bowen-Jones initiated communication with the initial profile in July of the previous year. She informed him that she was merely 14, yet he remained undeterred and transitioned the chat to WhatsApp.
Norman Bowen-Jones, a resident of Springwell View in Holbeck, transmitted images of his genitalia and requested photographs of her. He proposed a meeting and proceeded to the Royal Armouries, where he encountered the hunter group that broadcast the event live online.
He also reached out to additional fake accounts managed by the same gang and proposed a meeting at Leeds Railway Station; however, he ultimately did not follow through with the encounter.
Norman Bowen-Jones confessed to attempting to induce or incite a child to participate in sexual activity, four counts of attempting sexual communication with a child, arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, two offences of attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to meet a child after sexual grooming, and two counts of producing indecent images of children.
Mitigating, Andrew Stranex said that since his release from prison, he was like a “fish out of water”.
He added: “When he went into custody, the world was a very different place and he was really struggling to find his feet. He was in a city he was not familiar with. He used the internet to make contact with people. He accepts that what he did was wrong.”
The judge, Recorder Alex Menary, acknowledged Norman Bowen-Jones was “struggling to adjust” after such a long time behind bars. He jailed him for 32 months, but said his life licence will remain in place, meaning he could be returned to prison at any time. after serving his latest sentence.
He was also given a lifelong sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) to curb his internet use and put on the sex offender register for life.
Norman Bowen-Jones and his friend Timothy Dunn were just 17 and 15, respectively, when they carried out their horrific murder. They had become friends with 29-year-old Lesley Fox, and frequently visited her at her basement bedsit in Darlington.
They fantasised about having sex with her, then killing her, and went through with the vile plan on October 12, 1996. She was four months pregnant at the time and had been dead for five days before he body was discovered. She had to be identified by dental records.
She had been subjected to a prolonged and violent sexual assault before being strangled by Norman Bowen-Jones, who used a piece of rope. The sexual assault continued after she had been killed.
Later arrested, the boys blamed each other for the killing. They were sentenced in November 1997 and deemed “very dangerous” by the presiding judge. They were told to serve a minimum of 13 years, which was later cut to 12 years for Norman Bowen-Jones and 11 years for Dunn.
At the time of the successful appeal, a police advisor had reported that Norman Bowen-Jones was “cold, calculating and ruthless”, and he seriously believed he might kill again if released.
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