July 2011

Reggie Perrin bid paedophile jailed

A WOMAN has told of her horror after she was duped by a child abuser who fled to East Yorkshire to lead a secret life.

Leslie Andrews abandoned his wife and family by faking his suicide in Blackpool in 2002 after being accused of child sex crimes.

He fled to Hornsea, hiding from the police using the name Christopher Trent for six years, after leaving a suicide note in his car.

A paedophile who staged a Reginald Perrin-style disappearance to evade detection has been jailed for seven years.

Leslie Andrews, 54, wanted people to believe he had drowned in the sea at Blackpool when he parked his car nearby and left his clothing and a suicide note on the beach.

The former cafe owner went on the run for eight years after abusing a young girl as he changed his name but his true identity was flagged up when he was arrested in West Yorkshire for a petty crime.

In May a jury at Preston Crown Court found him guilty of 14 counts of indecent assault committed between May 1997 and May 2002.

Giving evidence in the trial by videolink, his now grown-up victim – who cannot be named for legal reasons – told the jury: “He knows and I know he’s guilty. He’s not man enough to deal with his guilt just like he wasn’t man enough and did a Reggie Perrin.”

Sentencing Andrews, Judge Norman Wright said: “When these matters came to light, you decided you were not going to face the music. You disappeared and acted out an elaborate charade around Blackpool beach to put people off the scent.

“Your victim was young and vulnerable. She was a little girl who did not know what was happening but knew something was not right. She was your sexual plaything for some five years or so and you have to pay the price.”

The judge said the “worrying features” of the case were his “controlling, manipulative and predatory behaviour”.

He said Andrews became “emboldened” when the victim initially raised concerns that he had inappropriately kissed her, but did not pursue the matter.

“This was a shot across the bows, but you were emboldened and you thought you could get away with it,” he said