BRIAN UPTON OF BROCKWORTH SENTENCED TO OVER FOUR YEARS FOR ABUSING 9-YEAR-OLD GIRL IN GLOUCESTER

In December 2008, a man from Brockworth, Brian Upton, aged 60, was sentenced to four years and ten months in prison after being found guilty of abusing a nine-year-old girl. Upton, a former taxi driver from Vicarage Court, admitted at an earlier court hearing to three counts of indecent assault and one count of gross indecency involving the girl. His admissions occurred during the second day of his trial, which also included more serious charges such as rape, which he had denied.

During the proceedings, the prosecution requested that nine additional charges—comprising rape, indecent assault, and attempted unlawful intercourse—be kept on file but not proceeded with. Judge Mark Horton approved this request.

Delivering his verdict, the judge described Upton’s offenses as a "gross abuse" and stated that his escalating crimes against the girl appeared to be part of a "planned enterprise." Psychiatric evaluations indicated that Upton exhibited paedophilic and psychopathic traits, with a high likelihood of future sexual offenses.

Upton was told he would serve half of his sentence before being eligible for parole, and the 228 days he had spent in custody on remand would be deducted from his sentence. Upon release, he will be required to sign the sex offenders' register for life.

Prosecutor Kerry Barker highlighted that although the abuse took place between 1996 and 1998, it was only in March of the following year that the girl reported the incidents, leading to police involvement.

The girl provided an impact statement, revealing that her experiences have affected her ability to form relationships and that she is now able to cry only recently, explaining, “It’s only now that I’m able to cry – I wouldn’t cry before because I saw it as a sign of weakness.”

Defense attorney Robert Duval described Upton’s actions as “inappropriate dealing with the facts of life” at the time of the offenses.