The 84-year-old was jailed after his sickening abuse against a young girl, starting when she was just six years old
A paedophile is expecting to die in prison after subjecting a young girl to years of abuse. Brian Sheridan paid his victim to perform vile acts and forced her to have sex with another man.
The pensioner was also said to have exhibited an array of sickening behaviour towards other children, including encouraging them to dress in “sexualised costumes”. A judge today told him that he had shown “no shred of regret, remorse or empathy”.
A trial at Liverpool Crown Court heard that Sheridan, 84, of Birch Green in Skelmersdale, sexually abused the girl on dozens of occasions, starting when she was aged as young as six.
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Jonathan Rogers, prosecuting, described how the OAP forced her to watch pornography and offered her money to perform a sex act on him. Sheridan went on to sexually assault her and perform sex acts upon her before forcing her to have sex with an adult male.
He was also said to have kept “highly sexualised photographs” on his walls and encouraged other children to “wear sexualised costumes”. No criminal charges were laid in respect of any other complainants however.
Reading a statement to the court this afternoon, Friday, the victim said: “I wanted to curl up into a hole and wither away into nothing. It broke me and I became a shell of the little girl I used to be. I didn’t have a choice, and because of him I never will.
“Brian ruined many things for me. Watching TV, being on public transport and being near people in general. The smell of Old Spice leaves me nauseated. I can’t even eat certain foods. Specific noodle brands make my stomach churn.”
Sheridan has no previous convictions. Michael Scholes, defending, told the court: “Mr Sheridan continues to deny responsibility. Inevitably, I acknowledge that this will be a significant custodial sentence.
“This will be, at the age of 84, the first time he will experience custody, and it goes without saying that there will be extraordinary difficulties both with his ability to cope with the prison regime and with the responsibility for those looking after him in prison. It is expected, but certainly not hoped, that he will now die in prison.
“He has made that plain to me. He understands and acknowledges that that is the likely consequence of this sentence.”
Sheridan was convicted of a total of 18 child sex offences by a jury. Appearing in the dock wearing a black Adidas coat over a beige cardigan and sporting glasses and white hair, he was jailed for 16 years and handed an additional year on licence.
Sentencing, Judge Garrett Byrne said: “These counts encompass 31 separate incidents of abuse, but I have no doubt that there were a great many more than that. It was clear from the evidence at trial that you were engaging in extensive sexual grooming of children.
“She describes feelings which are typical of people who have undergone great trauma. I have no doubt that all of this has had a profound and long lasting effect upon her. You, on the other hand, have shown no shred of regret, remorse or empathy and continue to deny the offending.”
Sheridan will be required to serve two thirds of his 16-year term before becoming eligible for release on parole. He was also told to sign the sex offenders’ register for life.
