A former Durham paedophile junior coach and scout, Michael Strange, has been encouraged to “come clean” about any further victims of his sexual misconduct as he awaits a sixth sentence.
Michael Strange, 64, had five previous convictions for assaulting young players and pleaded guilty last month to four charges of indecent assault on two guys between 1986 and 1995.
Strange’s misconduct is the subject of an ongoing internal review by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), which began last summer.
Michael Strange was a Durham coach who also coached at other local clubs in the northeast (PA).
A victim in a case that completed last year accused the governing body of failing to safeguard him and “countless others” from Strange, whom police characterised as a “monster” after he was sentenced to two years in jail last September.
The ECB study began after another abuse survivor, interviewed by the PA news agency in 2022, urged the regulatory body to conduct an investigation into Strange’s misconduct.
Strange appeared via video connection during a committal for sentencing hearing at Newcastle Crown Court on Thursday, where Judge Sarah Mallett asked him to be open about the entire scope of his crimes.
“One thing that occurred to me was that if the defendant is aware of any other victims of his offending, I can’t help feeling it would be in his best interests to make a clean breast of it,” she told me.
Judge Mallett noted that failure to do so “undermines the indication of remorse”.
“If the defendant has no memory problems or other challenges that prohibit him from remembering, he should be able to recall all of his victims; otherwise, there are too many boys.
“I would invite some reflection on the advantages of coming clean on any matters that may or may not be outstanding.”
Sentencing was postponed until September 17 to allow Strange to review police testimonies relevant to the case. According to prosecutor Rachel Glover, the complainants in this case were “extremely distressed”.
Strange was a Durham coach who also coached at other local clubs in the northeast.
Police began investigating him in 2005, but the first victim was unable to pursue the complaint, and it wasn’t until 2011 that police were able to gather enough evidence to submit a case to the Crown Prosecution Service and obtain charges, allowing Strange to be convicted for the first time in 2012.
He has since been jailed for previous child abuse charges related to cricket in 2016, 2020, 2022, and 2023.
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