January 2018

Two men jailed for having sex with 14-year-old girls

Two men who had sex with under-aged schoolgirls have been jailed.

Michael Rathbone, 24, of Mayfield Drive in Buckley, Flintshire had sex with a girl aged 14.

Mold Crown Court heard today he would hang around the school gate and continued to meet up with her even after the police had warned him not to do so.

He was jailed for three-and-a-half years after he was convicted of two charges of sexual activity with a child.

Co-defendant Scott Buxton, also 24, of Wynnstay Road in Wrexham, received a two-and-a-half year sentence for two similar offences involving another girl aged 14 – a friend of the other girl.

Both were ordered to register with the police as sex offenders for life.

An indefinite sexual harm prevention order was made in each case under which they are not to have any unsupervised contact with children.

Both had denied the offences but were convicted at an earlier trial.

Judge Rowlands said there had plainly been grooming in Rathbone’s case.

He said Rathbone had picked the girl up from outside the school, gave her gifts and was said to have treated her “like a princess.”

Regular sex took place and he told her to lie to others about her age.

He threatened to harm himself if she ended it.