22 November 2023 , 22:42
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A twisted dad abused, groomed and sexually abused a vulnerable young girl - before handing her over "as a prize" to his son.
Swansea Crown Court heard the abuse from pensioner Roy Lockett and his rugby coach son Peter Austin left the victim feeling "worthless". The 73-year-old was sentenced to a total of eight and a half years in prison, while 42-year-old Austin was jailed for seven and a half years.
The court heard widower Lockett targeted and groomed the girl and sexually abused her for a period of more than a year with the abuse, and used items from his large collection of sex toys.
He also took indecent photographs of the child, and plied her with alcohol. Austin then took over the abuse.
In statements from the victim read to the court, the girl said what the defendants did to her had left her feeling anxious, depressed, "used", and "worthless". She said the abuse had affected every aspect of her life including her schooling, sleeping, and eating. She said in the statements that going through the court process had been "scary", but that when she heard of the guilty verdicts from jurors "it felt like I could breathe again".
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Roy Lockett, from Llanelli, Wales, had previously been convicted of three counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, causing a child to watch a sexual act, two counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child, and making an indecent photograph of a child. He had previously pleaded guilty to causing a child to engage in sexual activity and two counts of engaging in sexual communications with a child. Austin, also from Llanelli, had previously been convicted at trial of five counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child when he appeared alongside his dad in the dock.
Judge Paul Thomas KC said having heard the evidence in the trial he had no doubt that the defendants had been fully aware of what the other was doing to the vulnerable young girl. He said Lockett had groomed the girl first and used her "like his sexual plaything" – including using items from his "hoard of sex toys" on her – before he had "handed her over as a prize" to his son who continued the grooming and sexual abuse.
He told Austin he had put himself in the role of a rugby coach knowing he had a "predilection" for young girls. But he said there was no criticism to be made of the rugby authorities, the offending was unconnected to the coaching position, and the defendant had presented himself as a "responsible member of society".
The judge said both men had known of the victim's vulnerabilities when they targeted her, and said in Lockett's belated admission of wrongdoing there was at least "a glimmer of some remorse" – unlike in the case of his son, who was maintaining his stance "in an attempt to present himself to some people as a victim of a miscarriage of justice" Lockett was sentenced to a total of eight and a half years in prison, and Austin was jailed for seven and a half years. Both defendants will be registered sex offenders for the rest of their lives, and were made the subject of indefinite sex harm prevention orders.