Newton-le-Willows man jailed for ‘heinous’ historic sex offences

A man has been jailed for fifteen years for historic sexual offences against a child.

David Ashbrook, 59, from Newton-le-Willows was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday 26 October, after pleading guilty to fifteen counts of rape, sexual touching and other sexual offences. He was also handed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and will be required to sign the sex offenders’ register for life.

The sex offences, which spanned a number of years, were reported to Merseyside Police in July.

Detective Constable Louise Parr said: “This sentence follows an investigation to bring Ashbrook before the courts so that he pays for utterly depraved actions.

“His victim showed immense courage and bravery to report these deplorable offences that Ashbrook committed, and now he will spend a considerable amount of time behind bars.

“As you can imagine for victims of such an appalling crime, the impact on them is significant and long-lasting. I hope this sentence provides some comfort in knowing they did the right thing by reporting Ashbrook’s heinous crime to us.”

“Merseyside Police is completely committed to protecting children from sexual abuse and those who seek to do them harm”, DC Parr added.

“If you have experienced any form of sexual abuse, or know of a child being abused, please come forward and report this to police.

“We take all such reports extremely seriously and if you can find the courage to come forward and speak to us we have specially trained officers who will treat you with sensitivity and compassion.”

Contacting the police: Contact the police anonymously here.

Support services: If you are a child or young person suffering sexual or physical abuse, the following organisations can also provide help and support.

• NSPCC – call 0808 800 5000 or e-mail [email protected]
• Childline – call 0800 1111
• In Liverpool, Sefton and Wirral, support is provided by Rape and Sexual Abuse Support (RASA) Merseyside who are available on 0151 558 1801.
• In St Helens and Knowsley, support is provided by the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre (RASASC) Cheshire and Merseyside who can be contacted on 01925 221 546 or 0330 363 0063.