A former Bradford Council binman who sexually assaulted 16 children over a period of 40 years has been jailed for 15 years.

Barry Spencer fled to the Worth Valley village of Oxenhope in 2000 after carrying out dozens of sexual assaults on young girls and young boys.

Spencer met most of his victims at Granby Halls, Leicester where he worked as a roller disco DJ and floor manager from the late 1960s until its closure in 1998. Others lived near his former home in Leicester.

Spencer, 61, admitted 68 indecent assaults and three rapes. The offences took place between 1965 and 2003 and relate to one boy and 15 girls.

The police investigation began in December 2004 when a woman contacted police and reported being the victim of offences committed by Spencer.

Over the following months police inquiries led to other victims. Spencer was eventually charged with 75 offences in all.

In December 2005, Spencer pleaded guilty to 67 indecency offences and was due to begin trial at Leicester Crown Court yesterday for eight other charges of rape and serious sexual assault. He pleaded guilty to four of these charges.

Judge Michael Stokes QC described him as a "manipulator" and said he was one of the most depraved people he had dealt with.

Judge Stokes said: "Sitting here as I do as a judge I have had to deal with some pretty appalling cases and some truly truly depraved and persistent wrongdoers. But you fall into a category of your own.

"Over a period of decades you have taken advantage of 16 different complainants and, to a greater or lesser degree, you have sexually abused them, some of them repeatedly, culminating in the rape of two of them. The damage you have done is simply incalculable."

The judge told Spencer that he escaped a life sentence with his late guilty pleas to the three offences of rape.

Prosecutor David Herbert said it was at the disco that Spencer, who also worked as a lorry driver, would single out girls who were from less wealthy backgrounds that he could easily befriend with promises of free entry.

"This was a regular feature that meant both the victim and their parents would be grateful and indebted to him," Mr Herbert said.

Spencer would also buy his victim's silence by threatening to ban them from the roller disco if they told anyone about the abuse.

Mr Herbert said Spencer was able to win the trust of girls and their parents so they were often allowed to stay at his house overnight, or go on trips in his lorry.

The two girls he raped were aged just ten and 13 when the abuse started, the court heard.

Julian Goose QC, mitigating, said Spencer's pattern of offending stemmed back to abuse he suffered as a child at the hands of a neighbour.

The QC also said Spencer wished to apologise to "each one of his victims for what he has done to them".

After the case Detective Inspector Andy Allden said: "It takes real guts to come forward and expose a paedophile - particularly one so prolific.

"Without the courage and determination of the victims to see Barry Spencer brought to justice, he could still be living in the community preying on other children."