Kaitlin pictured aged nine - Heart pounding, Kaitlin Womack stared in shock at a Facebook post on her phone. In that moment, a horrifying memory from her childhood came flooding back. It was 2016, and her former neighbour, Kert Birtwistle, 29, had been convicted of child sexual offences. Seeing his face on her screen knocked Kaitlin, 25, for six. Because what nobody knew was that she’d been harbouring an awful secret since the age of nine. Birtwistle had subjected Kaitlin to three sickening sexual assaults while she played at his house as a child, including touching her privates under her swimming costume. Three years later, in 2019, Kaitlin, from Preston, reported Birtwistle to the police. When she did, six other victims also bravely came forward. In October 2024, Birtwistle, from Blackpool, was convicted of 14 charges, including rape and sexual assault. He was jailed for 12 years at Preston Crown Court. His brother, Jordan Wright, 28, also pleaded guilty to 18 sexual offences and was jailed for over 16 years. Now, Kaitlin is courageously waiving her right to anonymity to help encourage other survivors to report their abusers to the police.
SWIMMING slowly towards the shore, a small group of bottlenose dolphins arrive for breakfast at a beach in Western Australia .
LINED up one by one on a deer’s back, these little birds give their wings a break as they catch a ride across London .
WITH A STERN look of determination on their faces, these adorable pooches perfect their doggy paddle as they dive head first into a swimming pool .
A GLOWING range of greens and blues sweep across the sky in a spectacular display of light .
BALANCING 30 metres above ground, these slackliners take the expression of living dangerously one step further, by tightrope walking NAKED .
PRANKSTER Dom Joly was so livid when he was slapped with a parking ticket that he took to Twitter to vent his anger – only to discover he was the victim of his own gag! The comic got a taste of his own medicine when he was tricked by a fellow joker for the first time in a decade .
CONTRASTING settings reveal some of England’s most beautiful landscapes in all their glory .
A BEAUTIFUL sight for the eyes and the imagination, these liquid sculptures take shape in many different colours and formations .
VIBRANT bursts of colour fill the screen as beautiful flowers blossom in these time-lapse videos .
A fox takes a tumble and lands on his head when he tries to fend off a pair of eagles in Japan .
It’s a role reversal in the Visayan Sea as HUNDREDS of tiny, glistening eggs are carried around inside the mouth of their cardinalfish father .
