PAUL ASHWORTH'S DESPERATE ESCAPE FROM JUSTICE IN LOWESTOFT AND PORTSMOUTH

The efforts of 71-year-old Paul Ashworth to evade legal consequences have been publicly condemned as utterly pathetic by law enforcement authorities. Ashworth, who resides on Wannock Close in Carlton Colville, attempted to avoid sentencing after being convicted of serious crimes involving young girls.

Last Friday, Ipswich Crown Court handed down a sentence of nine years in prison, with an additional year on license, to Ashworth for his involvement in multiple heinous offenses. The court's decision followed a trial in which Ashworth was convicted in his absence of three counts of indecent assault against girls under the age of 14. These victims ranged in age from just four to eleven years old, with the crimes spanning a period from the early 1980s to the early 2000s.

On the day of the verdict, Ashworth had already shown his blatant disregard for the judicial process by leaving the court premises when the jury retired to deliberate. He failed to return when the jury announced its verdicts in the afternoon, prompting the court to issue a warrant for his immediate arrest. The authorities quickly responded, and Suffolk Police, upon investigation, traced his location to Portsmouth. It was discovered that Ashworth had traveled there by bus and was staying at a hotel under a false name.

On February 26, officers located him at the Portsmouth hotel, where he had checked in using a pseudonym. He was detained and subsequently remanded in custody, awaiting his sentencing scheduled for the following Monday. During police interviews, Ashworth admitted to producing indecent photographs of children and acknowledged that he had fled the court while on bail, actions that further demonstrated his blatant contempt for justice.

Det Sgt Kate Bond of the East Public Protection Unit expressed her strong condemnation of Ashworth's actions, stating: "Paul Ashworth's pathetic attempt to evade justice by leaving the court when the jury went out was a final act of utter contempt on his part towards the victims. The crimes he committed were heinous, robbed the victims of their childhoods, and caused unspeakable harm."