Legal News

A 17 year old young man has revealed the torment of his childhood after he found the courage to report his ordeal after watching a rape storyline on Coronation Street. The storyline had the underwear factory boss Carla being raped by fiancé Frank Foster.
He went to the police in October 2010 after watching the storyline and reported how he was raped by his babysitter several times.
His rapist, Daniel Bird of Sale Moor, Manchester, was jailed for four years today at Manchester Crown Court after being found guilty of four counts of rape. He was ordered to sign the sex offenders' register for life.
The court heard that the attacks took place in around 2004, when the victim was eight years old and Bird was aged 15 or 16.
Between March and August 2003, Bird babysit the victim and his sister at their house in Manchester. He raped the young boy on four separate occasions, after offering to swap or give him Pokémon and football cards.
Following the trial the victim said he was reminded of his torment when he saw how Carla went through her ordeal. And when he saw that people supported her and that people believed in her, he felt that might happen to him as well.
Talking about Bird, the teenager added that he was a horrible human being who threatened him and intimidated him after every attack. He couldn’t find words to describe how much he hated him. He had ruined his childhood and left a scar for rest of his life.
He said that he was scared that people would not believe in him and would draw negative reactions which left him not only scared but embarrassing too.
Prosecuting lawyer Mark Kellet said the lad was so tormented by his ordeal that he tried in vain to forget about it, but seeing the rape storyline on Coronation Street made him think about his own experience.
When his unsuspecting mother began talking about how 'nice and helpful' Bird had been, he decided to speak out. Bird denied the charges, but was convicted after a trial.
Passing sentence, Judge Michael Henshell told Bird that he had caused the young man pain and in the time gone by, he has been embarrassed by the memory and it was clear he couldn't bring himself to tell anybody near to him.
'For years he kept quiet as he grew older and didn't want to cause disruption within the family. As to the other effects it had on him, it is not visible to see but the offences caused him pain and embarrassment.
Detective Constable Grace Hulse from Greater Manchester Police's Public Protection Investigation Unit said that it had taken a great amount of courage for the victim in the case to come forward and tell his family and the police about what happened to him.
He added that now because of the bravery shown by the boy, his attacker has been put behind bars for his despicable actions.