MICHAEL HIGGINS OF WARMISTER CONVICTED OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE IN ST ALBANS
Michael Higgins, a builder from Warminster, Wiltshire, who managed to evade justice for two years due to a missed DNA sampling, has now been convicted of child abuse.In 2009, police investigated an attack on an 18-year-old woman but failed to collect a DNA sample from Higgins.
Despite conducting over 700 swabs during the investigation, officers stopped within half a mile of his home in Warminster.
Higgins was finally apprehended in April 2011 after his son was arrested for a minor offence and DNA swabs matched the family profile.
He was subsequently sentenced to six years in prison in November 2011 for rape.
Most recently, Higgins faced a conviction for sexually assaulting a ten-year-old girl in 2020.
During his trial at St Albans Crown Court, Higgins told his defence lawyer, Nathalie Carter, that he was known as 'Mucky', an old work nickname from his days as a hod carrier.
When cross-examined by prosecutor Laura Blackband, Higgins stated, 'I don’t know where the allegations have come from.
I don’t know why she made this up.' Currently 57 years old and residing in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, Higgins is scheduled for sentencing at Swindon Crown Court in June.
