February 2017

Judge fights back tears as he jails couple for ‘grotesque’ abuse of young girls

courtcase

A judge fought back tears as he described how a twisted couple subjected two young girls to “grotesque” physical and sexual abuse.

Michael Miszczak, 54, and his ex-wife Sandra Jones, 52, “brainwashed”, raped and beat their extremely vulnerable victims.

They forced the children from before the age of eight to eat their own vomit and to fight with each other while half naked.

Liverpool Crown Court heard on one occasion Jones punched one of the victims between the legs, as Miszczak brutally raped the girl.

However, it was when describing another horrific rape by Miszczak, that Judge Denis Watson, QC, became emotional and his voice started to waver.

He said: “I don’t think I will ever forget listening to the evidence. That event, it was so appalling, I find it difficult to control the repetition of what occurred.”

The judge gave Miszczak 25 years behind bars, with an extended three years on licence. He jailed Jones for 14 years, with a further year on licence.

Miszczak, who showed no emotion as he was sent down, was found guilty of 10 charges, including child rape, indecent assault and child cruelty, after a trial.

Jones, who shook her head in the dock, was convicted of four charges including aiding and abetting rape, assault causing actual bodily harm and child cruelty.

Describing how she helped her then husband rape the girl, Judge Watson said: “It was wickedly cruel, chillingly heartless and utterly inhuman.”

Michael Scholes, prosecuting, had earlier told the court: “It’s difficult to imagine a worse example of the rape of a child.”

He said the now adult women “suffered significant psychological trauma as a result of their ordeal at the hands of these defendants”.

During the trial, the jury heard the girls both had eating problems and frequently vomited.

Mr Scholes said: “[One victim] said this was dealt with by both girls being required to eat their own and each other’s vomit.”

The girls were beaten by Jones, who left one with a black eye and a split head, and struck one victim in the head with a metal pole.

Mr Scholes said of one victim: “On one occasion she was pushed over and another incident, when she accidentally caused damage to a microwave oven, resulted in Sandra slapping her across the face and later that same day holding a knife to her throat.

“On another occasion she described wetting herself and Jones rubbing her face in her own urine.”

Miszczak would force the girls to “toy” or “play fight” with each other and made them strip to the waist before molesting them.

He repeatedly raped one of the girls, sometimes plying her with alcohol, after making her watch pornography to normalise the behaviour.

A witness also reported him mocking the girl after he was told she had tried to hang herself.

The pair suggested the girls were “fantasists” and had made up all of the accusations.

David Potter, defending Miszczak, of Acorn Street, Newton-le-Willows, said the offences were “desperately serious” but argued the judge need not pass an extended sentence.

Judge Watson disagreed and supporters cried in the public gallery as they heard Miszczak will serve at least two thirds of his sentence in prison before he is considered for parole.

Bridget Bailey, defending Jones, of Promenade, Southport, said her client continued to deny any wrongdoing and argued she was “not the dominant partner in this relationship and perhaps not the instigator”.

Judge Watson told Jones “you are most definitely not a victim” and even if she had not known everything Miszczak was doing, she knew “a great deal”.

He said: “One of the victims remembered you saying to him ‘when are you going to realise they have had enough?’.”

February 2017

Depraved married couple ‘forced young girls to eat own vomit

A married couple who subjected two young girls to years of sexual, physical & mental abuse, including forcing them to eat their own vomit, were today convicted of child cruelty.

The victims were “brainwashed,” raped and beaten by Michael Miszczak, 54, and his former wife Sandra Jones, 52, from before the age of eight, at a house in Newton-Le-Willows.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that on one occasion Jones punched one of the victims, as her then husband brutally raped the girl.

Today Miszczak shook his head as a jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts to 10 charges, including child rape, indecent assault and child cruelty.

Jones broke down in tears and sat down in the dock as she was convicted of four charges including aiding and abetting rape, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and child cruelty.

Judge Dennis Watson, QC, told the twisted pair: “The charges in the case are extremely serious and there is only one eventuality, immediate custody will follow.”

During the trial Michael Scholes, prosecuting, told the jury: “(One victim) said that they both had eating problems and frequently vomited. She said this was dealt with by both girls being required to eat their own and each other’s vomit.”

The jury heard the girls were both beaten by Jones, who left one with a black eye and a split head, while on one occasion Jones struck one of the victims to the head with a metal pole.

But both defendants dished out beatings, sometimes using a slipper or belt.

Mr Scholes said of one victim: “On one occasion she was pushed over and another incident, when she accidentally caused damage to a microwave oven, resulted in Sandra slapping her across the face and later that same day holding a knife to her throat. On another occasion she described wetting herself and Jones rubbing her face in her own urine.”

The jury heard Miszczak would force the girls to “toy fight” with each other and make them strip to the waist.

Mr Scholes said these fights appeared to be a “pretext” for sexual assaults, involving Miszczak touching the girls.

But over the course of several years the jury heard Miszczak repeatedly raped one of the girls, sometimes plying her with alcohol.

Mr Scholes said a witness also reported him mocking the girl after he was told she had tried to hang herself.

During the trial David Potter, defending Miszczak, and Bridget Bailey, defending Jones, suggested the girls were “fantasists” and had made up all the accusations.

One victim was accused of taking some of the allegations from the book ‘A Child Called It’, an account of child abuse by an American author which one of the victims was “obsessed with” as a child.

But the jury accepted the evidence of the two victims, who came forward separately years later, and told police of their suffering at the hands of the couple.

The twisted defendants were remanded in custody and are due to be sentenced on a date after February 17, to be fixed by the court.