JOHN HERBERT'S SENTENCE IN TILBURY SPARKS CONTROVERSY, SAYS JUDGE

In August 2007, a man named John Herbert, 65, who admitted to raping three children in Tilbury during the 1960s, was spared a jail sentence. Herbert pleaded guilty to the systematic sexual abuse of three minors, whose ages at the time of the offences ranged from children to women in their late 50s now. The case was scheduled for trial at Basildon Crown Court, but Herbert changed his plea at the last moment, avoiding the need for the women to testify.

Herbert received an eight-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months, along with a six-month supervision order and a £1,500 costs fee. During the sentencing, Judge Christopher Mitchell explained why he deemed immediate imprisonment unnecessary. He stated, “All the (three women) were seeking was a word which is used often today, which is closure. In your case, no proper purpose would be served by you serving an immediate sentence.”

The court noted that the women, now aged in their late 50s, were children at the time of the offences. Judge Mitchell also remarked that Herbert might have been acquitted had he not confessed, saying, “You have honestly said you did these things. Had you pleaded not guilty, there is a good chance you may have been acquitted.”

Herbert, who resides on Ruskin Road, Chadwell St Mary, is also required to register as a sex offender for the next ten years. He informed the court of his intention to sell his home and leave the area following the sentencing.