Honoured – then disgraced

A man – honoured by the Queen for services to St John Ambulance and sport – has been convicted of sex crimes going back more than 50 years.

Derek Eaglestone, of Birchington, had been awarded an MBE in the 1990s after serving as a superintendent for the charity.

But now a jury has decided that during his time with St John he sexually abused one of the organisation’s cadets.

The 80-year-old was remanded on bail and will be sentenced next month.

The victim said the incidents had begun “as a tickling game” in the back of a St John’s ambulance but became increasingly sinister.

The jury convicted Eaglestone of four charges of indecent assault but returned not guilty verdicts on three other sex offences.