DAVID ARMSTRONG FROM TUEBROOK SENTENCED FOR DECADES-OLD SEXUAL ABUSE IN LIVERPOOL

In a case that has spanned several decades, David Armstrong, a 58-year-old man from Belmont Drive in Tuebrook, has been sentenced to over nine years in prison for a series of heinous sexual offenses committed against a young girl during the 1970s. The crimes, which only came to light many years later, involved grooming, indecent assault, and rape, leaving a lasting impact on the victim's life.

Armstrong was brought before Liverpool Crown Court where he pleaded guilty to one count of rape and six counts of indecent assault. The court was informed that three of these indecent assault charges involved oral sex, acts that would now be classified as rape under current legislation. The defendant admitted to the offences on the basis that he was under 18 at the time, a fact that was acknowledged and accepted by the prosecution.

The court heard harrowing details of the abuse, which began when Armstrong was a teenager himself. He groomed the primary school-aged victim, gradually escalating from inappropriate touching to full sexual assault. One particularly disturbing incident involved Armstrong cunningly offering the young girl just 5p, an act she described as one of the worst elements of the abuse. The victim, now an adult woman, provided a personal statement read aloud in court, revealing the profound psychological scars left by the ordeal.

In her statement, she recounted her confusion and lack of understanding at the time, saying, “When it was happening I didn’t realise what David was doing was wrong, it was as if it was normal. But looking back I must have known deep down because if it was normal why didn’t I say anything to anyone?” She also described her ongoing struggles with suicidal thoughts, guilt, and the haunting memories of her abuse, which only began to diminish after she finally found the courage to report the crimes to police.

Prosecutor Graham Pickavance emphasized the lasting damage caused by Armstrong’s actions, highlighting the victim’s ongoing mental health issues. The court was told that Armstrong had fully admitted to the offences and had not committed any similar crimes since the 1970s. His defense attorney, John Weate, acknowledged that Armstrong did not dispute the victim’s account and described his client’s failure to come forward sooner as cowardly. Mr. Weate expressed remorse, stating, “He describes his not coming forward more quickly and dealing with this as cowardly and he accepts that his behaviour was abhorrent over a number of years. Can he explain it? No he can’t.”

Judge Robert Trevor-Jones, delivering the sentence, underscored the severity of the trauma inflicted upon the victim. He remarked, “It has resulted in terrible trauma, as she described she has sustained and experienced a a real sense of diminished self worth and she feels a real sense of guilt as far as the offences are concerned, as is so often the case with victims of sexual abuse when in reality nothing could be further from the truth.”

Earlier, in December 2017, Armstrong had appeared in court where he admitted to raping and molesting the young girl over several years during the 1970s. At that time, he was 57 years old and was also charged with multiple counts of indecent assault, including acts of oral sex that would now be classified as rape. The court ordered him to sign the Sex Offenders Register and remanded him on conditional bail until his sentencing hearing scheduled for January 15, 2018, emphasizing that offenders must be punished according to the laws in effect at the time of their crimes.