Ex-club owner jailed for sex abuse
APAEDOPHILE former nightclub owner whose venues played host to stars including the Who and the Rolling Stones has been jailed for child sex abuse.
Reginald Pickstock, 87, of Romiley, owned a string of popular clubs in Stockport during the Sixties and Seventies - but used the venues to pick out and exploit vulnerable youngsters.
Pickstock was wellknown in the town for running clubs such as Manor Lounge, the Tabernacle and Blazers.
But he has now been exposed as a predator after being found guilty of 22 counts of indecent assault following a trial at Minshull Street Crown Court.
The pensioner has been sentenced to 10 and a half years’ imprisonment for the offences, which date back as early as the 1950s.
Before his abuse came to light Pickstock’s venues were the place to be for youngsters in the 1960s and top acts - also including Jimi Hendrix and Rod Stewart - appeared there in front of adoring fans.
But Pickstock’s son Keith, 53, who gave evidence at the trial, says these venues gave his dad a platform for his abuse.
And that his status meant he was protected from being brought to justice.
Keith, who was not a victim but gave evidence at the trial, says he twice tried to report his dad to the police but was sent packing.
Keith, a lorry driver, said: “I went to Stockport police station to try and report it in the late 80s and early 90s and was told to go away.
“They said if I came back again I would be locked up. My dad owned a lot of nightclubs and he was looked after.
“If he walked through Stockport everyone would come up and say hello to him, he was very well known because of his clubs.
“I believe he did it to attract young girls, I guessed. He got away with it for so long.
“I am just relieved he has been jailed, he is an evil, manipulative person. One reason I am talking about this is because I wonder how many others there were.”
The charges Pickstock, of Church Lane, was found guilty of relate to three girls.
He first appeared at Stockport Magistrates Court in relation to them in September last year.
Until his arrest Pickstock remained a respected figure because of his background in the music industry.
He even supported a campaign to get a blue plaque at the site of the now demolished Tabernacle.