A PENSIONER has been jailed for ten years after being convicted of multiple historic sexual offences in Cumbria.

Harold Wharton, 73, was convicted after trial of six counts of indecent assault of an underage girl and two counts of committing an act of gross indecency.

Preston Crown Court heard the abuse began in the 1980s while the defendant was living in Dalton.

Reading her victim impact statement to the court, the victim, whose anonymity has been protected for legal reasons, said: “I believe he is a monster with no remorse. I hope he does not see the light of day again.”

The court heard Wharton had previously served a five-year prison sentence for rape and indecent assault in 1990 against a different victim.

In defence, his barrister Nick Lane said: “There is not a great deal that can be said in terms of the facts of the offending or in personal mitigation.

“In my submission, the test has not been met to consider this defendant as being a dangerous individual. He has not committed any other offence in over 30 years.”

“It is inevitable he will spend a significant period of his later years in custody. I ask Your Honour to consider his age, the current conditions of prison and the likely impact this will have.”

Sentencing Wharton to ten years imprisonment, His Honour Judge Darren Preston said: “You are a predator. A wicked individual who preys on children for your own perverted sexual desires.

“Your victim has had to live with the psychological impact you caused her. She was brave to stand in front of you to make you understand the damage you have caused. You are a man with no shame and have never shown any remorse.

“What you did would now be considered in law as rape of a child under the age of 13, but I have to sentence you to the woefully inaccurate law which was in place at the time of your offending.

“I have no doubt you pose a risk to children but there is no evidence to suggest you are a significant risk of serious harm to the public as there is no evidence you have committed any similar offences in over 30 years. I am just persuaded to avoid an extended sentence and a finding of you being dangerous.

“There is absolutely no mitigation whatsoever in this case.”

Wharton, of Ripley Avenue in North Shields, was also made the subject of a restraining order until further order and notifications requirements for life.