Praise for bravery of abuse victims

COURT: A judge has praised the bravery of four victims of sexual abuse after their evidence led to a former carer at a North Yorkshire children’s home being jailed for 19 years.

Stuart Thornton, 65, who is now registered blind, took advantage of his position as a care worker at the Burnside children’s home in Skipton.

A JUDGE has praised the bravery of four victims of sexual abuse after their evidence led to a former carer at a North Yorkshire children’s home being jailed for 19 years.

Stuart Thornton, 65, who is now registered blind and walks with the aid of a white stick, took advantage of his position as a care worker at the Burnside children’s home in Skipton to carry out the abuse of three boys and a girl during the 1970s.

As he passed an extended sentence on Thornton yesterday, Judge Neil Davey QC spoke directly to the complainants who were in court for the hearing and commended them for coming forward.

He said: “It is a brave thing to do for victims, in their circumstances, to come forward at all.

“And then having come forward to put themselves to public scrutiny in a public court and give their account in circumstances which are never easy.”

He added that it was because of the bravery of victims that offenders like Thornton were brought to justice and he hoped they would now reach a degree of “closure and peace”.

Thornton, of Spring Gardens, Cowling, near Keighley, was found guilty following a trial at Bradford Crown Court of a series of sexual offences, including indecent assaults, gross indecency with a child and a serious sexual assault.

The court heard that Thornton had maintained that his accusers were telling lies and Judge Davey highlighted his “utter lack of remorse” and the fact that he had tried to paint himself as the victim during the harrowing case.

Judge Davey said he could not conclude that Thornton had deliberately sought work at the children’s home, on Carleton Road, which has since closed down, in order to commit sexual offences.

But he decided that despite this, the defendant should still be considered a dangerous offender.

“Having obtained that employment you took advantage of it to commit serious sexual offences on a regular basis against children who were in your care and defenceless against you,” the judge told Thornton.

“The breach of trust in those circumstances is extremely grave.”

Judge Davey said the victim impact statement of one of the male complainants made “harrowing reading” and the psychological impact had been severe on at least two of the men involved in the case.

Having decided that Thornton still posed a significant risk of serious offending, Judge Davey imposed an extended prison sentence, which means he will have to comply with an additional licence period of three years.

But the judge told him that he would not be considered for release from prison until his case was looked at by the Parole Board at the two-thirds stage.

Thornton will also be subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and he will have to tell the police where he is living, once released, under the terms of a lifetime sex offender registration requirement.

Barrister Chloe Fairley, for Thornton, submitted that her client had played a positive role in his community in the subsequent years since the offending in the 1970s.

“There is in fact actual evidence not only that the defendant hasn’t offended in the intervening period, a very substantial period of time, but that he has gone over and above the ordinary,” she said.

“He has clearly involved himself in charitable work at quite a significant level.”

It is a brave thing to do for victims to come forward at all. Judge Neil Davey QC.