NORTH WALSHAM PAEDOPHILE WHO RECEIVED MBE DIES IN PRISON AFTER SEX ATTACKS
Harry Charles Day, from North Walsham, Norfolk, was awarded the MBE in 2004 for his voluntary work with young people, including setting up the Young Citizens Guild at Hemsby.Despite this, he was later convicted of serious sexual offences against boys.
In 2009, he was jailed for 13 years for 20 sexual offences, including gross indecency and incitement, committed against eight boys.
His crimes took place between 1969 and 1986 at the charity he founded, the Young Citizens Guild, which aimed to help young people become confident and community-minded citizens.
His offences were initially against boys aged between 8 and 18, including counts of gross indecency, incitement, and indecent assault.
He received a further sentence in 2016 of three years, to run concurrently, for seven offences of indecent assault against four victims all under the age of 16 at the time, committed between 1985 and 1990.
The victims ranged in age from nine to under 16.
Day's criminal activities included abusing boys at camps and youth groups he organized.
He was charged with more offences in 2015 after a victim came forward, raising the total number of victims to 12.
He died aged 87 while serving a prison sentence at HMP Five Wells in Northamptonshire in September 2024.
The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman reported that he died of leukaemia in a hospice, and criticized the Prison Service for unnecessarily restraining him with handcuffs while being taken to hospital, a decision they deemed unjustified given the negligible risk of escape.
