WIDNES HEADTEACHER JAILED FOR CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE PLANS TO APPEAL
MEN who were abused as boys by their "evil" headteacher may have to re-live their harrowing ordeals for a third time, the World can reveal this week.Terence Hoskin - jailed for eight years for carrying out horrific sex attacks on pupils in his care - is planning to appeal against his conviction.
And if his application is successful, many victims from Runcorn and Widnes will have to give evidence in court again.
The 58-year-old head teacher of the former St Aidan's school in Norlands Lane, Widnes, sobbed at Chester Crown Court last April as Judge Elgan Edwards described him as "evil" when passing sentence.
Hoskin, a married man with children, denied 11 charges of assault, eight of indecent assault and one of buggery carried out at the school between 1974 and 1981.
One 35-year-old victim from Runcorn told the World at the time: "Hoskin is an evil person.
The man is a terrible beast - a pervert.
I've tried to kill myself three times in the past because of what happened to me and I was on the verge of doing it again during this trial.
The last few weeks going through this court case have been so traumatic.
"I kept reading in the papers about how upset Hoskin was during the trial but outside he was laughing and smiling with his family.
I felt like killing him.
"To come face to face with him after all these years was really traumatic." The victims described giving evidence as like being abused for a second time and news that Hoskin has been given leave to appeal will, they believe, cause much distress.
Michael Lloyd, one of the solicitors acting on behalf of the victims and calling for a public inquiry into child abuse in Cheshire, said he was "concerned" to hear of the appeal bid.
He said: "It was very traumatic for the victims to give evidence and we feel they should not be put through that again.
It caused a lot of distress but, if Hoskin has been given leave to appeal, there is not a lot we can do about it." Brenda Cowling, press officer for Cheshire Police, said: "We presented the evidence and the Crown Prosecution Service took the case to court and a jury found Mr Hoskin guilty of a number of offences." Hoskin's solicitor, Chris Saltrese, told the World that his client hopes to hear the outcome of his application in six weeks.
Mr Saltrese has been advertising in several local newspapers for former pupils of St Aidan's to contact him.
He said: "We have received a mixed response from the adverts.
I believe there is not a shred of evidence against my client.
We feel he was convicted on the strength of Colin Dick (a colleague who admitted abusing boys in his care) pleading guilty to the charges he faced."
