Pensioner jailed for 1970s sex attacks

A retired electrician has been jailed for three and a half years after admitting a string of sex attacks on a teenager 30 years ago.

Frank Newberry, 65, admitted four counts of indecent assault at Wood Green Crown Court.

Newberry carried out the attacks on a 13-year-old girl between 1972 and 1973 after they met at a riding stables.

The judge ordered a further four counts of rape to remain on file.

A two-year police investigation was launched by Project Sapphire officers after his victim, now a 45-year-old mother of two, contacted Scotland Yard in 2002. The woman, who asked to be known as Amy, reported the rapes and indecent assaults which took place in Enfield when she was 13 years old.

She and her sister shared a pony that was kept in stables at Hollyhill Farm, Enfield. From the age of 11 Amy spent most weekends and school holidays at the riding stables.

Newberry, a married father of two from Bedfordshire, began to use the same stables in 1972 and offered her a lift home as he lived near her family.

Amy believes that he sexually assaulted her on a regular basis over a year. She recalled he first attacked her in a Victorian house in Enfield.

Now a businesswoman living in Hertfordshire, she told the Evening Standard: "Since this happened to me I have thought about it daily. Whenever I pick up a newspaper or see the news and hear about child abuse or rape I am upset for days.

"I suffered through my teenage years and became insular, as I did not feel I could talk to anyone about what happened to me. I have found it difficult to form relationships and that has made me feel alienated.

"It would be wrong for me to say it has gone away but talking to police and going through the court system has helped me a lot. I do wish I had told the police a long time ago."

Officers were initially concerned they might be unable to trace Newberry because he might have moved out of the area. The riding school had closed down.

On a visit to a riding stable nearby detectives spoke to someone who remembered a "Frank" who sold saddles more than 20 years ago.

After extensive enquiries he was eventually traced to Bedfordshire.

During interview Newberry admitted having a sexual relationship with Amy but insisted he thought she was older and was a college student.

Police were able to establish that Amy was under 16 at the time and had not been attending college.

Detective Inspector Gerry McDonald, who led the investigation, said: "This cold case is groundbreaking in that Newberry was convicted without the reliance of DNA evidence and illustrates we are committed to revisiting historical unsolved rape allegations and taking them through the criminal justice system.

"I only hope this conviction helps her turn a chapter in her life and gives other victims the strength to come forward.

"Frank Newberry's conviction sends a clear message we are determined to ensure that justice is done so that victims can move on with their lives.

"He will now be placed on the sex offenders' register for the rest of his life."