NEIL THOMPSON, DERBYSHIRE PAEDOPHILE, EXPECTED TO FACE TOUGH TIME IN PRISON

In June 2021, a brave victim of child abuse shared her harrowing experience in court, revealing how Derbyshire resident Neil Thompson, now 72, manipulated her into becoming what he wanted. The woman, whose identity remains protected by law, described Thompson as someone who 'saw me as an easy target' and 'took pleasure in the power he held over me.' She recounted that Thompson, who befriended her when she was below the age of consent, began sexually assaulting her starting at a stable. Despite the passage of over 15 years and her courageous statement to the court, Thompson believed she was 'a willing participant,' a view the court condemned. Judge Nirmal Shant QC sentenced him to three years and nine months in prison, remarking, 'You have blighted the life of the complainant and no sentence I pass today will take that away. The law is there to protect young children because that is what she was – a child. Your pre-sentence report suggests that you still believe she was a willing participant and that somehow you have no culpability. I reiterate, she was a child, you have very little victim empathy. You were someone who manipulated her and dominated her and I hope you listened carefully to the victim impact statement she made.' Prosecutor Kevin Jones explained that the abuse began over 15 years ago at a stable, where Thompson quickly befriended the girl and soon began sexually abusing her, touching her both over and beneath her clothing on multiple occasions. He added, 'He repeatedly told her when she turned 16 he would leave his wife.' It was only years later that the now-married woman found the strength to report the abuse to authorities. A powerful video of her reading her victim impact statement was played in court, in which she stated, 'I was on the fragile bridge that spans childhood and adulthood when you sexually abused me. Your predatory behaviour resulted in the loss of my autonomy. What I did not see was that you saw (me as) an easy target, you groomed and moulded me into a person you wanted me to be. You took pleasure in the power you had over me, the gnarly guilt that sits in the pit of my stomach is down to you.' Neil Thompson of Birchwood Lane, Somercotes, pleaded guilty to eight counts of sexual activity with a child.