Convictions in Historic Familial Sex Abuse Case

July 19, 2017

After over two weeks in retirement, the jury in the familial sex abuse case being prosecuted by Oliver Saxby QC leading Georgina Gibbs at Reading Crown Court have returned their verdicts. All four defendants were convicted of various offences relating to five of the six complainants including offences of child cruelty, offences of failure to protect from sexual abuse, multiple incident rape counts and offences of perverting the course of justice.

Sentence will take place next week, with reports on dangerousness being prepared in respect of two of the four defendants. The case lasted 10 weeks.

The Crown’s case involved the calling of six complainants, each of whom had made a host of previous false accusations – some admitted, others provable. In giving the jury as full a picture of the background as possible (including evidence relating to previous police involvement and past social service and Family Court intervention), the Crown was able to present a compelling case.