SWINDON PAEDOPHILE MOVED AFTER RESIDENTS PROTEST
AN ALLEGED child rapist banned from Gloucestershire was living within two minutes' walk of a Swindon primary school.Andrew Compton faces 18 child sex charges, one of attempting to intimidate witnesses and another of possessing an imitation firearm.
But until last night he lived in Walter Close in The Prinnels, just 350 yards from Lydiard Tregoze Primary School.
The alleged offender was driven out of a previous address in Cirencester after neighbours discovered he was accused of raping a schoolboy.
He gave the Swindon road as his bail address at his latest court hearing and was ordered to stay out of Gloucestershire except when visiting a loved one.
Last night he was moved on again by police following a demonstration by residents.
He has now been taken out of Swindon to another address.
A young mother in Walter Close, who asked not to be named, said residents were made aware of the alleged offender when leaflets were put through their letterboxes.
She said: "I don't know who did that, but I'm glad they did it." Compton was originally forced to flee from his home in Lawrence Road, Cirencester, when neighbours demonstrated outside his house.
They discovered he faced a charge of raping a schoolboy.
He is also accused of possessing an indecent photograph and an imitation firearm.
When he appeared in court last month he faced a further 16 charges, seven alleging he raped boys and girls under the age of 16, indecently assaulting them and committing acts of gross indecency with them.
He was also accused of taking and possessing indecent photographs of children.
The young mother said: "We have had no prior warning about him coming here the police have kept it quiet.
I am quite disgusted that the police not told us.
I want to know why they have let him live there.
It is the most stupid place to put him there are more than 100 children in the close, and a school and a field nearby." Knightstone Housing Association, owner of the houses in Walter Close, will not divulge records of its registered residents.
However, the association says it has no way of knowing who might be staying with residents as a guest.
Chief Inspector Nick Maslen of Swindon Police said the man was moved on after a group of residents assembled in the close at around 9pm last night.
He said he would be appearing at Cirencester Magistrates Court today to have his bail address altered.
He said: "We would like to point out that he has been charged but not convicted, and these are only allegations at the moment.
We are doing all that we think is necessary to safeguard the public." At his latest court hearing, magistrates told Compton that his case would be tried in a crown court at a later date.
