December 2017: Now living in Sunderland

Update May 2012 – Released from prison

October 2008

Six years jail for paedophile

A paedophile was today starting a six-year prison sentence for offences against children dating back more than 35 years.

Keith Stobbart’s earlier acts of indecency only came to light when he was accused of an offence against a girl and arrested in April last year.

After the 14-year-old complained about him, victims of offences he had committed in earlier years – from 1971 to 1996 – came forward.

Newcastle Crown Court heard Stobbart, 50, of St Bede’s Close, Hetton, started his “systematic” abuse, which involved girls from the age of six to early teens, as a teenager himself.

Penny Moreland, prosecuting, said Stobbart threatened his victims and continued to commit offences “with impunity.”

Brian Mark, defending, said Stobbart had learning difficulties and had co-operated with a psychiatrist who produced a report for the court.

He argued that his client was no longer a danger after being “unmasked” as a paedophile and was, in a way, a victim himself.

Jailing Stobbart for six years for nine offences, Judge David Wood gave him credit for pleading guilty and not forcing his victims to give evidence at a trial.

Stobbart was placed on the sex offenders’ register for life and banned from working with children.