Ex-soldier allowed kids to drink booze
DAD BLASTS FORMER FUSILIER WHO ADMITTED CHILD ABDUCTION
A FORMER soldier was told he could be jailed for child abduction after he persuaded a boy of 12 and other children back to his house to drink booze.
Anthony Lingard, 38, allowed his victim and other children to come to his home in Radcliffe, where he was said to be known for teaching local children about nature and how to build dens, a court was told.
The victim’s father said he was ‘disgusted’ at Lingard, a childless loner who was a soldier in the Welsh Fusiliers who also worked as a PCSO in Eccles and later as a firefighter in Ramsbottom.
Lingard gave the boys ‘free rein’ at his home where they were allowed to stay over, drink alcohol and vape, prosecutor Nicola Carroll told Manchester Crown
Court on Friday. The defendant would buy alcohol for his visitors and take them on camping trips, the court was told.
“In fact the boys were allowed to do what they wanted to do at the defendant’s house and so they returned time and time again,” Ms Carroll told the court.
His victim told his parents that Lingard was the father of a friend, she said.
During one camping trip, Lingard allowed the boys to play drinking games and he slept with them in the tent, said the prosecutor.
Ms Carroll said the father grew to ‘trust’ Lingard and instead of phoning or visiting he would text to ensure the planned visit was OK - visits which ‘would not have been allowed’ had he known what was happening, the court heard.
The visits became common knowledge at the victim’s school and teachers called police.
Lingard, who has no previous convictions, was arrested. He denied that the boy was allowed to drink and he denied deceiving the lad’s parents.
The victim’s father told the court in a statement how his son had since struggled with his studies and said: “Our bright, beautiful boy has now disappeared.”
Andrew Evans, defending, pointed out his client had not been charged with any sex offences.
Judge Angela Nield expressed concern about the motivation for Lingard’s crimes and adjourned sentencing until September 9 for a specialist report.
She described the defendant’s behaviour as ‘frankly bizarre’.’
She said jail was still a possibility. Lingard, of Schofield Street in Radcliffe, pleaded guilty to five counts of child abduction concerning one boy between July 2019 and January 2020.