FORMER senior members of Thurrock yacht club, including a cowardly retired Commodore, stand accused of neglecting and hiding child sex abuse occurring on their property over several years concerning multiple rapes and sexual assaults on the victim, a seven-year-old girl.
It has been speculated that John Darby of the Thurrock yacht club was enabled by other paedophiles, as yet identified, who were members of the club. It is understood that the Commodore enabled Darby’s horrific crimes by ignoring them and pretending he did not know about them.
Most of the fourteen listed charges, including penetration, occurred at the historic Thurrock yacht club on Thames Road, Greys.
John Darby, the 66-year-old welder/fabricator, was behind them, sentenced to more than 60 years.
Although the sentences span 20, 16, 14, and 12 years, they will run consecutively, ensuring he will serve at least 12 years in prison.
Declaring himself innocent throughout a four-day trial, Darby was found guilty of routinely mistreating the child over three years in the cellar below the club bar — and in the camper he lived in on a nearby industrial site.
Basildon Crown Court unveiled the startling facts of the case when Judge Samantha Leigh complimented the victim for her fortitude.
She then presented a High Sherrif’s medal and £500 for whistleblowing former member of the Thurrock yacht club and Afghanistan war veteran’s bravery in facing threats and provocation to reveal the wrongdoing.
The judge praised Scaffolder Terry Gillingham, a 21-year-old Parachute Regiment soldier serving in Afghanistan, for being the witness verifying the case against Darby.
Thurrock Nub News earlier this week covered the case when a jury found Darby guilty, closing up several days of evidence with just two hours of deliberation. Yesterday, Thursday, 15 August 2024 sentencing was given.
For the 14 acts Darby had been found guilty of, he was sentenced several times, many spanning over ten years. All are to be served consecutively. Thus, the most pertinent is the 20 years he spent for an offence of penetration, classified by the judge as a severe’ category one offence’.
He has to serve at least two-thirds of his term behind bars before becoming eligible for parole; the last 20 years will be served on a licence. Judge Leigh noted that he would be 78 when he exits jail, which would be enough to render him non-threatening!
The victim, now a young woman of twenty, presented a victim statement outlining the years of suffering that had destroyed her life and resulted in many attempts at suicide during Thursday’s sentencing session.
Darby was passionate and cold in the court, while the shaking victim often had to stop among sobs as she described the effects the attacks had on her.
Saying, “I will never be the same; my innocence was taken from me. Nothing will be able to take away the fact that I had no childhood and on multiple occasions, I tried to take my own life,” she told the court of “the severity of the damage done by John Darby”.
“I am blessed to be alive; I cannot tell you the precise count of overdoses or attempts at choking or hanging.
“I passed through my teenage years.”
Saying she had a social anxiety disorder, she related the “physical toll” on her as well as the “stress and damage through trauma inflicted by John Darby”.
John Darby hid dark secrets while sailing his boat. He was a valued member of Thurrock Yacht Club, and one man saw through the façade.
She said: “I don’t think there are words to convey everything I have suffered, petrified by the terror of John Darby, which has lasted throughout the years.
“Though I have gone through several kinds of treatment, I find it challenging to look at myself sometimes.
“Hospital visits and admissions occupied my years from 12 to 17; I missed years of schooling and couldn’t take my GCSEs.
“I could count on my hand the total number of times I visited school throughout three years. My educational chances have not been fair.
“I will never get that back; I have missed so much and have practically no social interaction with people my age. It is a challenging thing to come to grips with.
“I experienced bullying in primary and secondary education.
“The trauma John Darby causes will never let me or will never enable a normal relationship.
“I understand it’s not my fault, but it doesn’t change the truth. John Darby will permanently change the quality of my life. What a regular life is is unknown to me.
“Nothing can change; my spark was stolen away from me by a man who stole so much; I will never lead a regular life.
“I still query why it was me, and I doubt I will ever get an answer to that question.”
She also honoured her mother and family.
Following the emotional impact of her speech, which left several members of the public gallery in tears, the prosecution demanded the harshest sentence, stating Darby had committed the most severe abuse of trust, isolating her victim and threatening her not to disclose the abuse and cause her significant psychological damage.
Darby was described as ‘an offender of particular concern’.
Darby’s defence lawyers offered little in mitigating terms, noting the seriousness of the charges but implying they were of a lesser degree than category one, most severe.
The court was informed: “John Darby has a severely disabled son who depends very much on his father, and losing that responsibility will have a severe impact on Mr Darby.”
Judge Leigh, who had criticised the scope and length of the police inquiry during the trial, detailed a succession of the offences, which started in 2010 when the girl was seven and on a trip with her family, accompanied by Darby. At one point, in a forest, he isolated her, placed her against a tree and removed her clothing before sexually assaulting her. He repeated that offence on another trip with the family.
Later offences happened at the Thurrock yacht club’s cellar and in the caravan; Darby lived around a hundred yards from there.
Darby underlined in following the offences that the girl should not inform anyone, saying: “If you do, no one will like you.”
Referring back to the evidence presented during the trial, Judge Leigh remarked that “members of the Thurrock yacht club!” observed the abuse Darby committed on the girl!
She said, “There was an impression that others at the Thurrock yacht club knew what had happened, and members closed ranks around Mr. Darby.”
She remembered how Mr. Gillingham, among others, had bothered Darby in the Thurrock yacht club cellar. Still, he was the only one who believed the activities were inappropriate and something had to be done.
The timings of the acts were apparent during the trial; they occurred across three years while the girl was between seven and nine.
Mr Gillingham reported several incidents to police and social services. The girl, Darby, Mr Gillingham and her family were questioned. The girl’s parents discounted the allegation that Darby, a close and trusted family friend, was mistreating their daughter. They said she was making it up.
There is no indication he committed any charges against her; they kept allowing Darby, who was also involved in teaching her sister and often took that youngster out on his boat alone, access to the girl.
And the victim herself insisted she had not been abused when first questioned in 2012.
Though social services in the girl’s home town, outside Thurrock, and Thurrock’s social services continued to keep records about the abuse, Mr. Gillingham’s evidence was the only one contradicting Darby and ultimately, the investigation was called off.
Mr Gillingham claims he was horrified when the committee and top officials of the club refused to challenge Darby’s eligibility for membership and instead began a war of misinformation and hostility directed against him, so withdrawing his Thurrock yacht club membership.
He said, “I advised the committee against allowing youngsters near Darby. I informed them of my observations and my doubts. I covered all the specifics for them.
Thurrock yacht club members started to oppose me. My boat was ruined; my moorings vanished; a hole developed in the bottom of my tender, which I utilised to get out. Someone messed with my outboard engine.
“Some members did acknowledge what I said, but others just slagged me off, and finally, I had my membership taken away. Members stood against me and put the nail in my sailing club coffin.”
Mr Gillingham, from South Ockendon, says – despite the personal abuse he suffered and the impact being removed from the prestigious Thurrock yacht club, for which individual membership is £282, had on his social standing – he does not regret for a minute. He says he would be more than happy to speak up in detail should an investigation ever occur into what he described as a cover-up of criminality.
Currently running his own scaffolding business in Thurrock, he claims to be pleased with his record for “doing the right things in his life,” which included recognition for his work in Afghanistan.
After returning from abroad, Mr Gillingham received his Operational Service Medal from the Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. White City’s 10 Company, The 4th Battalion of The Parachute Regiment (4 PARA), served alongside him.
He served with the TA for three years, based in Helmand Province, from February to July 2006. He supplied individual reinforcements to assist the regular battalion on the first British deployment into the area.
Mr Gillingham was contacted by the police once more in about 2017 when the case was reopened after the girl, having suffered years of therapy and treatment and after several failed suicide attempts, finally admitted to the authorities that she had not told the truth in the initial investigation because she was scared by Darby and influenced by her parents backing of him. It seems that her parents were enabling the abuse.
When social services sent the situation back to the police, initial evidence—including some forensic material—records and transcripts of the original statements vanished, so Mr Gillingham had to be reinterviewed.
Though it took police six more years to bring the case before the court, a delay that Judge Leigh strongly condemned, he stayed constant in his memory of what had transpired, and his evidence was crucial in the ultimate trial.
Saying, “You stepped up when those around her failed. You were an honest man, doing what you believed was right,” she was effusive in her compliments of Mr. Gillingham and his advocacy of the victim.
“But this case might not have been brought to court for your efforts and continuing strength in this particular instance.
“I grant you a High Sherif’s prize combined with £500 and the court’s appreciation.
The yacht club has handled you quite poorly. Embarrassment on their behalf!”
Saying of the victim’s testimony, “I defy anyone who heard that not to have a breaking heart,” Judge Leigh was subdued in her appreciation of the girl’s bravery in court.
She said: “None of this is your fault; the defendant is responsible. I do not doubt that thirty years near the Bar, I have never felt such sorrow for the victim as I do today.”
No laughing matter. John Darby was finally brought to court more than ten years following his crimes.
Turning now to Darby and giving her sentence, Judge Leigh said: “This is a category one offence because of the planning, the grooming, the abuse of trust and threatening to stop her coming forward.
“Your lack of past convictions is the only mitigating detail.
” You lied, and what you did devastated the life of this victim.”
Speaking with Thurrock Nub News following the end of the trial, current Thurrock Yacht Club commodore Dave McLean said: “Thurrock Yacht Club has just been informed of the court case and outcome of an ex-member who took advantage of the opportunity to day sail from the club premises with a minor around 2010.
“Our minds are with the victim and family affected.
“We sincerely apologise to the victim; she deserves praise for confronting the misdeeds of this individual and for her bravery in pursuing justice.
“We want to let you know we are dedicated to helping such initiatives.
“Contrary to various media accounts, John Darby has never been an employee, coach or instructor at the club.
Since then, several club executives have changed; the club’s policies and practices have also developed.
“Every club member first values the welfare and protection of all children and vulnerable adults.”
“The first report came into Essex Police in 2012 following concerns about Darby around a young girl at Thurrock Yacht Club,” reads Essex Police’s statement released today, Friday, August 16. This inquiry was started, but 2017, the victim contacted Essex Police to amend her original statement and begin the investigation again.
“The victim boldly revealed that Darby had sexually abused her for many years.
“Darby kept refuting all claims made against him throughout the inquiry.
“He was charged with 12 counts of assault of a child under 13 by penetration, one count of inducing a child to participate in sexual activity and one case of attempted assault of a child under 13 by penetration.
“Darby was judged guilty of all charges following a trial starting at Basildon Crown Court on August 6. John Darby was sentenced to 19 years in jail Friday, August 15, at Basildon Crown Court.”
“The patience and bravery this victim has shown over the investigation is nothing short of admirable,” said Detective Inspector Emma Portfleet.
“Although survivors of sexual offences may suffer lifelong effects, I hope she can begin to move forward and take pride in how she has behaved over this inquiry.
“I value public enquiries concerning the duration of this research to arrive at conclusions. It is impossible to overestimate the difficulty of looking at non-recent sexual offences. Detectives interviewed hundreds of witnesses, gathered many statements, and ensured the victim was getting specialised help all through this inquiry.
“Darby was found guilty by the jury less than two hours later; I think this is because of the strength of the case our investigators developed.
“However long an investigation may take, detectives in our Crime and Public Protection Unit work constantly to put dangerous offenders behind bars and protect vulnerable victims.”
If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this article, then please report those individuals to the Police on 101 (999 if an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details of the options for reporting a crime. You can also make a report at Crimestoppers should you wish to be completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.