He was convicted by a jury following a retrial with the victim saying ‘my life will never be the same and I will never be the person I want to be’
Andre Walton was sentenced at Hull Crown Court(Image: Hull Live)
An ex-soldier who targeted a young girl for offences of sexual abuse has been branded a “true monster” and a “sexual predator”. The victim suffered “overwhelming anxiety” and she would never forget what happened to her, Hull Crown Court heard.
Andre Walton, 63, formerly of Hull, denied a series of sexual offences but he was convicted by a jury of four matters of indecent assault and another involving a serious sexual offence. The verdicts came on June 2 after a retrial spanning three weeks.
Walton was cleared of four other offences, including rape and indecent assault of another girl. A jury at an earlier trial in September last year cleared him of four other indecent assault offences, involving a third girl.
The first jury was discharged after failing to reach verdicts on other matters and a retrial was ordered. Walton had been on bail for both trials and he remained on bail after being convicted by the second jury.
Stephen Robinson, prosecuting, told an earlier hearing that Walton was a “sexual predator” and he sexually abused the girl “in a variety of ways” during a series of incidents in Hull. He intimately touched her.
“This happened regularly,” said Mr Robinson. “She was told by the defendant that, if she told anyone, she would be the one to get into trouble. He also manipulated her.”
On one occasion, he pushed the girl against a wall and intimately touched her. “She told him to get off her and he did,” said Mr Robinson.
On another occasion, Walton also intimately touched the girl. “She screamed and started crying,” said Mr Robinson.
Walton was later confronted about the alleged offences and he was interviewed by the police. “He denied that any of them had happened,” said Mr Robinson. The evidence was, however, “compelling” against him.
In a statement, the girl branded Walton a “true monster” and said that she had suffered “overwhelming anxiety” and said: “I don’t feel safe in my bed at night.”
She told Walton: “I will never forget what you have done to me for the rest of my life. Every day, I feel afraid. I will never recover from this. My life will never be the same and I will never be the person I want to be.”
John Dunning, mitigating, said: “This defendant is now a totally different person from a person who was involved in this offending. There is no suggestion of any further offending.”
There were references for Walton. “He is a pillar in his community,” said Mr Dunning.” Walton faced a prison sentence for the offences.
“He has now got to face the consequences,” said Mr Dunning. “This man is on medication for various ailments so a custodial sentence at the age of 63 is going to have more impact than it would have had on a young man in good health.”
Judge Alexander Menary told Walton: “I am satisfied that you did have a sexual interest in children. One by one, these allegations came out.” The offences had an impact on most or all facets and aspects of the girl’s life. Her personal life was impacted and led to unhappiness.
Walton, recently of Lawford Way, Southampton, was jailed for 11 years. He will be on extended licence of one year after his release from prison. He was given a sexual harm prevention order for life and he will have to register as a sex offender for life.
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