RADIO HOST JAILED FOR CHILD SEX ABUSE
PERVERT FINALLY BROUGHT TO JUSTICE 40 YEARS AFTER HIS CRIMES
A RELIGIOUS affairs broadcaster who exploited his job at a radio station to molest a schoolgirl has been jailed more than 40 years after the abuse.
High school art teacher Bryce Cooke had been known as the host of the programme Thank God it’s Monday but unbeknown to listeners he was abusing one of his pupils while presenting his show.
The victim, then aged 14, had already been groomed by married father-of-three Cooke, then in his 30s, two years earlier when he began teaching her at a school in Cheadle Hulme.
He then molested her at the former Radio Manchester building, subsequently named Piccadilly Radio, after he offered her a part in a play he was recording.
The crimes in the early 1970s went undetected for 46 years until the victim, now in her late 50s, read about sex offences by Jimmy Savile and paedophile football coaches and rang Cooke to tell him she was going to tell the police.
She later told detectives: “What he did has affected me my whole life. He took away any chance of innocence. He was my teacher and was heavily involved with the church. Instead of having integrity he used that position of trust to sexually gratify himself.
“I had no relationships for many years and felt sex was something that was done to you. I had no conception of being in a loving relationship. No love – just sex done to you. The repercussions of what he did left me feeling numb, worthless, ashamed and embarrassed that it happened to me.’’
She added: “When I had children the true extent of what he did hit me. I found myself paranoid about their whereabouts, their school and what they were doing. Life-long nightmares to contend with, bumping into him in the street with my child. It makes me feel physically sick what he did to me.
“It was only as a result of people coming forward with historical sex crimes that I finally felt I had the courage to say something about this. And this only happened when I was nearly 60.
“Telling my husband was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do – this secret that I’ve kept to myself all those years. He has been so supportive of me but this whole legal process has been dreadful for both of us. Bryce Cooke irrevocably harmed me – he ruined my whole life.’’
At Minshull Street Crown Court, Cooke, now 81, who runs a TV production company in Heaton Mersey, Stockport, admitted indecent assault. He was jailed for six years and was also ordered to signed the Sex Offender Register.
The offences took place in the 1970s while the girl attended the former Woods Lane Secondary School – now known as Cheadle Hulme High School.
Charlotte Crangle prosecuting said: “She never said anything to anybody for most of her adult life, keeping it to herself just getting on with her life and putting what happened to the back of her mind. It was only in recent years with the publicity of historic allegations and more particularly the revelations with football coaches that she decided to contact him.
“She called his number without any great plan or idea of what she was going to say if he answered. His wife answered and she asked to speak to Mr Cooke and when he came on the line she introduced herself and noticed the change in his voice. He was trying to be friendly with her and it was this that made her realise he had not changed at all and so was determined to show him how strong she was.’’
The victim spoke to police in March 2017 and Cooke was arrested later.
In mitigation, defence lawyer Rachel Shenton said: “He is very regretful and remorseful. He is an old man now but at the time was a fashionable young teacher who was very popular with the children.”
Sentencing, Judge Julie Warburton told Cooke: “I believe your remorse is genuine and that you have demonstrated insight into what you’ve done and you have since then lived a fruitful life. But sadly the same was not the case for your victim, who had to deal with the after-effects forever as is so often the case.”