Man jailed in 1988 for sex offences guilty of abusing two more victims

Children’s author, 72, who was jailed in 1988 for sex offences against 17 young boys is sent back to prison after being found guilty of abusing two more victims in 1973 and 1982

• Patrick Dorian Cowland, 72, was jailed in 1988 for 500 offences involving 17 boys
• Two more victims came forward decades after and an arrest warrant was issued
• After being extradited, Cowland was jailed for three-and-a-half years yesterday

A children’s author and filmmaker who was jailed in 1988 for hundreds of sex offences against seventeen young boys has been sent back to prison after two more victims came forward.

Patrick Dorian Cowland, 72, of Ballagh, County Wexford, was extradited from Ireland to the UK in March this year after the new allegations dating back decades were made.

In the 1970s and 80s, Cowland would gain access to children through his film making, as youth worker, as a football coach and by teaching martial arts. 

He would take boys away for weekends, often on the pretence of film making and would book into a hotel and abuse them.

Yesterday, at Gloucester Crown Court, he was sentenced to three-and-a-half years imprisonment on new charges dating back decades.

The court heard that Cowland – who has used the names Patrick Cormack, PJ Cormack and Paul Curran – was also jailed in the UK in 2012 for selling indecent pictures of boys and possessing 1,000 indecent photographs of children with a view to distributing them.

At his 1988 appearance at Bristol Crown Court he admitted more than 500 offences involving at least 17 boys and received a five year sentence.

Two other men were jointly accused with him at that time, one of them described as a university academic and the other a BBC employee ‘well known in the world of drama and music’ who died before police were able to interview him about the allegations.

Convicted paedophile Patrick Dorian Cowland, 72, of Ballagh, County Wexford, was jailed for three-and-a-half years for sex abuse against two boys

Prosecutor Robin Shellard told the court about the two charges that have come to light since Cowland was convicted in 1988. The two victims were not known to each other and had informed the police of their abuse independently of each other, he said.

‘The first victim was aged about 12 when Cowland abused him between 1979 and 1982,’ said Mr Shellard. ‘As an adult, the victim underwent mental health treatment which prompted him to report to the police that he had been sexually abused as a child.

‘However, the man was not mentally able to support a prosecution at that time as he was suffering from psychosis and other mental health issues.’

Mr Shellard then told the court that in December 2017, the man who had previously made allegations against Cowland, but was not mentally fit enough, said he was now ready to support a prosecution.

Mr Shellard said: ‘This victim recalls that at his school he was chosen to be one of the actors by Cowland for a film being shot locally.

‘After a few meetings with Cowland connected with filming, the boy agreed to go with him to a narrow boat during which sexual things would happen.’

The court also heard that on November 29, 2016, a second man contacted Gloucestershire Police and said that he was sexually abused by Cowland while he was playing for a local football team in the 1970s when he was 12-years old.

He took him to London on a trip, nothing sexual happened while there but on the way back his car ‘mysteriously’ broke down. 

It was a planned ruse as Cowland had booked them into a hotel for the night, and used the opportunity to take naked photographs of the boy and sexually abuse him. 

‘The man said it was the first time he had spoken about the abuse since that time,’ Mr Shellard said. 

The victim suggests he was sexually abused by Cowland for three years.

The court was told that a European warrant for Cowland’s arrest was executed on March 15 this year in Ireland, where Cowland had retired to, and he was extradited to the UK and arrested at Heathrow Airport.

Cowland failed to attend Gloucester Crown Court (pictured above, file photo) in December 2020 and an international arrest warrant was issued

The first victim said in a statement: ‘I still suffer from the effects of what Cowland did to me when I was a child. When I was being molested I began to self harm. As a young boy I had nobody I could turn to. My problems were severe. I had become paranoid and anxious and I was unable to trust anybody.’

The second victim stated ‘In my first year at my football club I was very happy. That was until I met Cowland.

‘Cowland had a major impact on my life. I endured long periods of abuse, which led to me feeling angry, sad, fearful, confused and guilty.

‘This had a major impact on my adult life. I find it hard to move forward, meet new people and find it hard to trust the friends I have.’

The court heard that Cowland had received a sixteen months prison sentence on March 6, 2012 at Warwick Crown Court after admitting selling indecent pictures of boys and possessing 1,000 indecent photographs of children in October 2010, with a view to distributing them.

The six charges Cowland admitted yesterday were of indecent assault and gross indecency offences against the two boys – one between 1973 and 1975 in Cheltenham and the other between 1979 and 1982 at locations in England and Wales.

Judge Michael Cullum told Cowland: ‘It is quite clear that at this time in your life you were a prolific paedophile. Your offending lasted for around 25 years, which includes the entirety of your offending with these two victims who are now grown men.

‘Your real offence in relation to these two latest victims is robbing them of their childhood.

‘The only appropriate sentence I can impose is an immediate custodial term and that is three-and-a-half years.’

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