May 2019

Paedophile Jonathan Horne jailed for raping girl, 15, and sexually attacking child, 10

A man has been jailed for 18 years for raping a young girl and sexually assaulting a child.

Jonathan Horne, 47, was sentenced at Hull Crown Court following a six day trial after a jury found him guilty of ten charges including rape, sexual activity with a child under 13 and indecent assault.

The court heard the shocking crimes took place when Horne was living in Withernsea. He was interviewed by police years later after his victims confronted him and secretly recorded the encounter.

The court heard how, between 1993 and 1997, Horne groomed and abused one of his victims, then aged 14, before raping her a year later.

On one occasion, when the girl was 15 and had been drinking, she woke to find Horne raping her.

Years later, he then sexually abused a ten-year-old girl, only for his victim to be branded an “attention seeker” and a “liar” for speaking out against him.

In a victim impact statement read out to the court, his second victim said: “The best way to describe myself is broken. There is not an area of my life that has not been affected by this. I have been allowing this experience to ruin my life.

“I wasn’t believed and was told I was lying. My childhood was taken from me and I have always felt older than my years.”

Prosecuting, Claire Holmes, told the court the case took four years to get from the police hearing of the allegations to the trial, an issue which is now being independently investigated.

She said: “They have been reliving this for almost four years.”

Horne’s second victim said the trauma of the abuse has “left her angry” and said she now “doesn’t trust anyone”.

The woman who Horne, of Green Lane in Halifax, had abused for four years, also said she suffered flashbacks and had struggled with relationships throughout her life.

She said: “I never realised I had been abused and raped. Sometimes I become so angry it consumes me

“What happened has affected every adult relationship I have ever had. I have flashbacks and when I reported it I had a breakdown and struggled with what had happened.

“Since, I have struggled to trust anyone and see the worst in every situation.”

Both victims said they have suffered suicidal thoughts due to the abuse carried out on them by Horne.

The first victim said: “I feel like I don’t have a place in this world. This has been so much pressure because I don’t know who I am anymore. It has been torture.”

Both women are now looking forward to rebuilding their lives knowing their attacker is finally behind bars.

Representing Horne, David Godfrey, said there was nothing of significance on Horne’s criminal record.

He said: “He has worked hard throughout his life and he is aware he will be serving a significant term in prison.”

Sentencing Horne to an 18 year sentence Judge Mark Bury said: “The fact is that this has taken four years to come on, only in part down to him not having the bottle to carry out admissions he made under recording and the fact it has been four years since interviews in 2015 and we are now here in 2019, is something that has greatly affected these two complainants.