Who was paedophile David Courtney? | The Sun
DAVID COURTNEY was jailed in 2002 after being found guilty of horrific crimes against children.
Here is all we know about the convicted sex offender, who died in prison whilst serving time for his crimes.
Who was David Courtney?
David Courtney was a bus driver and convicted paedophile from Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees.
He was jailed in 2002 for sex crimes against children over a period of 14 years.
He has been described as one of the North East's worst criminals.
When did David Courtney die?
Courtney died aged 70 in Wakefield prison, nine years after being incarcerated there.
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He was dubbed the "child rapist preacher" because of his claim in court that he was looking to become one.
Why did David Courtney get sent to prison?
In 2002, he told a Teesside Crown Court jury he was a regular church-goer, holding frequent prayer meetings at his own home and had ambitions to become a full-time preacher.
He claimed that he had turned to God in 1992.
But he was found guilty of eight counts of rape and 13 of indecent assault.
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Courtney was found guilty of crimes against girls aged between eight and 13, that spanned from 1974 to 1988.
In 1994, Courtney was acquitted of sexual offences against two of the same girls.
However, evidence accepted on that day from one of the victims was revealed to be false, and that she had in fact been assaulted by him.
Courtney claimed he would have been incapable of carrying out many of the alleged offences because he had become impotent as a result of injuries in a bus crash in the 1970s.
Judge Tony Briggs had told him that a picture of dreadful depravity had emerged from the case.
He described Courtney as “clearly an intelligent man with a powerful, manipulative and deviant personality”.
“The damage you have done is quite dreadful and incalculable – you systematically abused these young girls.”
He was jailed for 16 years, but only served nine of them before his death.
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