Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
EX-PC horror
Former officer gets 19 years for child rape
A former police officer has been jailed for 19 years after a judge told him he had “mercilessly sexually abused a child to fulfil his sick fantasies”.
Ex-soldier Colin Wraight, 66, was this week convicted of raping and assaulting his young victim, who collapsed after giving evidence at Canterbury Crown Court.
The pensioner, who served with Kent Police in Whitstable, Ashford and Ramsgate, had denied the charges against him, putting the girl through the ordeal of a week-long trial.
Her heartbroken mum told the court how her daughter has suffered severe psychological harm since the vile attacks and now regularly experiences nightmares.
In a statement read out as Wraight was sentenced, she said their lives will never be the same again, adding that she tries to stay calm but “inside my head I am screaming”.
She also said her daughter feared Wraight, of St Margaret’s Street, Canterbury, would come through her bedroom window, saying: “I just hold her very, very tightly.”
The jury had heard how the victim had revealed to her mother that she had been sexually abused by drawing pictures.
She sketched part of a hand and a pair of handcuffs, later telling police that Wraight had threatened to cuff her to a bed and made a “sick video” of the abuse, which she made him delete.
When detectives raided Wraight’s then home on the Seaview Holiday Park in Swa- lecliffe they discovered sets of handcuffs, a police truncheon and a vibrator, together with other sex toys and illegal child images on his computer.
Former army warrant officer Wraight, who also worked as a security guard at the crown court, was arrested at the caravan park on May 5 and later charged, but denied all the offences.
He told the jury that the sex toys were bought because he was into bondage with a lover but struggled with erectile dysfunction.
On his release from prison Wraight will serve an extra two years on licence.
Judge Rupert Lowe told Wraight he had a sinister side to his character that he had kept hidden for years.
Investigating officer DC Zara Meacham said: ‘There can be no excuse for Wraight’s actions.
“He was able to manipulate, abuse and bully for his own repugnant notions and showed no consideration for the detrimental effect it could have on others.
‘ Thankfully, the victim was determined to report it and that determination won through.
“She showed real courage in speaking up and her support in this investigation shone through during the trial.
“The result in court means Wraight will no longer be able to harm her, and he has been shown as the repellent individual he really is.”