A 71-year-old child molester rapist from Carlton Colville, Paul Ashworth, was released by the Police on bail. He did not return to court DURING his trial, with the Police having no idea where he was or what he was doing after he walked out of the courthouse, and has now finally been incarcerated. Paul Ashworth was sentenced to nine years’ jail, plus an additional year on licence, at Ipswich Crown Court on Friday, April 4.
Paul Ashworth, residing on Wannock Close, was convicted in absentia on Friday, February 7, of three charges of indecent assault against a girl under the age of 14. These pertained to three distinct victims aged between 4 and 11 years, happening from the early 1980s to the early 2000s.
He had earlier entered a guilty plea to three charges of producing indecent images of minors. Furthermore, he pleaded guilty to fleeing from court while on bail.
Paul Ashworth, who was not in custody during his trial, departed the court as the jury commenced deliberations on 7 February and did not return in the afternoon for the delivery of the verdicts.
The court subsequently issued an arrest warrant, prompting Suffolk Police to initiate efforts to locate him, including the release of a wanted person appeal.
Officers determined that Paul Ashworth’s bank card was utilised in Portsmouth city centre, and with the aid of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, CCTV investigations at the sites where the card was employed corroborated his presence there.
He had got on a bus that terminated at a depot in the city centre and after Suffolk police officers made enquiries with hotels in the area, he was found to have booked into one under an alias.
He was located and arrested at the hotel on Wednesday 26 February and remanded in prison pending his sentencing hearing today.
Detective Sergeant Kate Bond, of the East Public Protection Unit, said: “Paul Ashworth’s pathetic attempt to evade justice by leaving the court when the jury went out, was a final act of utter contempt on his part towards the victims.
“The crimes he committed were unspeakably abhorrent and robbed the victims of their childhoods. I want to pay tribute to the victims for their bravery in working with us to achieve these convictions.
“Ashworth will now spend a considerable portion of his 70s in prison, which I hope will be of some comfort to the victims and enable them to rebuild their lives.”
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