Youngster ‘deserves help’ says judge as he is given youth rehabilitation order

The Bradford teenager was described as “a scarred, troubled, emotionally deprived and sad young boy,” by Judge David Hatton QC yesterday.

The youngster, wearing a smart white shirt, sat at the back of Bradford Crown Court next to his social worker.

He did not have to go into the dock and the judge and barristers removed their wigs.

His barrister, Tamara Pawson, said that none of his relatives was in court to support him.

The boy pleaded guilty in August to orally raping the six-year-old at a house in Rastrick, Brighouse, on January 13.

Prosecutor Sophie Drake asked that a second charge of rape he had denied be left to lie on the court file.

Miss Drake said the victim’s mother reported that he had suffered nightmares since the attack.

He was now wary in the company of older boys.

Miss Pawson said of the teenager: “He is as much a victim as the complainant in this matter.”

Neither the boy’s mother nor grandmother had attended meetings to discuss the case before the sentencing hearing.

“He is a lonely boy. He doesn’t socialise at all with anyone in his age group,” Miss Pawson said.

His clinical psychologist said that with the right resources and a robust safety management plan, he could be supervised in the community.

“This was a one-off: perhaps a form of inappropriate experimentation,” Miss Pawson said. “It’s a very sad case. A very difficult case,” she added.

Judge Hatton said the victim was left distressed, traumatised and psychologically damaged.

But the defendant required and deserved help.

“It is not in the public interest, or necessary for the protection of the public, that you be incarcerated,” the judge told him.

The boy will be supervised for three years and he must attend the NSPCC’s harmful sexual behaviour programme.

A Sexual Offences Prevention Order bans him from contacting his victim or working with children in the future.

He must sign on the sex offenders’ register for two-and-a-half years.