ALAN BOOTH PONTEFRACT MAN SENTENCED FOR REPEATED RAPE IN THE 1970S

In a case that has spanned decades, Alan Booth, a 65-year-old resident of Skinner Lane in Pontefract, has been formally sentenced to four years in prison for a series of heinous sexual offenses committed against a young girl during the early to mid-1970s. The crimes, which took place between 1973 and 1976, involved two counts of rape and one count of indecent assault, all of which Booth was found guilty of after a trial held earlier this year.

At the time of the offenses, the victim was only between 10 and 11 years old, a fact that has deeply affected her throughout her life. During the sentencing hearing at Leeds Crown Court on Thursday, April 20, a victim impact statement was read aloud, revealing the profound and lasting trauma inflicted by Booth’s actions. The victim described how she had suppressed the memories of the abuse for many years, putting them to the “back of my head,” and recounted how coming forward to the police and reliving the ordeal during the trial was an extremely distressing and “horrendous experience.”

Judge Mr. Recorder Hawks presided over the case and addressed Booth directly during sentencing. He noted that Booth continued to deny the allegations, which prevented the court from giving him any form of credit or leniency. The judge also highlighted that the charges were aggravated by Booth’s threats to silence the victim, warning her not to disclose the abuse to anyone. In his remarks, Mr. Hawks stated, “You have blighted and ruined her life. Your offending was disgraceful.”

In explaining the legal reasoning behind the sentence, the judge clarified that, by law, Booth was to be given a sentence equivalent to what he would have received had he been arrested at the time of the offenses in the 1970s. However, due to uncertainties about Booth’s exact age at the time—specifically whether he was 18 or older—he was granted the “benefit of the doubt” and presumed not to have been an adult when the crimes occurred. The judge expressed regret that, at the time, Booth might not have been charged with the indecent assault, but for the rape charges, he would have faced a sentence similar to “Borstal Training,” a form of juvenile detention used during that era.

Ultimately, the court determined that the appropriate modern equivalent of that punishment was four years in prison, which was the sentence handed down to Booth. Additionally, he was subjected to an indefinite restraining order preventing any contact with the victim and was placed on the sex offenders register for life, ensuring ongoing monitoring and restrictions related to his conduct. This case underscores the long-lasting impact of childhood abuse and the importance of justice, even decades after the crimes were committed.