July 2017 Former Bingo caller pleaded with judge not to lock him up for sexual assaults A former Birkenhead bingo caller begged a judge for mercy after being jailed for five and a half years. Alan Ward, 63, was convicted of three offences of sexual assault following a trial during which he claimed the victim had fabricated the DNA evidence against him. Judge Robert Trevor-Jones said that his denials meant the woman had to go through the ordeal of a trial, describing his claims that she had manipulated the forensic evidence as “cynical and malicious.” He told Ward, who walks with a stick, that he took into account his deteriorating physical condition, but imprisonment was inevitable and his offending meant he was categorised as a “person of particular concern” resulting in an additional 12 months being added to his licence period. Ward, who was on the verge of tears, began incoherently imploring the judge not to send him away repeatedly saying, “please your honour”. Ward, who was convicted after just two hours of deliberations by the jury, was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life and was also given an indefinite restraining order to keep away from his victim. Referring to Ward’s internet search history Judge Trevor-Jones said he “clearly had an interest” in particular sexual activities. Ward, of Greenway Road, Tranmere, also faced a charge of possessing 1,078 extreme pornographic images, which he denied and which was left to lie on the file. Liverpool Crown Court heard that in September 2015 Ward was drinking with the woman, who is about half his age, in a pub in Birkenhead. Ward and the woman, whom he knew but had “barely met” spent the evening drinking together and at one stage he suggested that he pass her off as his girlfriend. He persuaded her to go back to his flat to eat a kebab and drink coffee before calling her a cab. But back at his home he performed three acts of sexual activity involving penetration on the woman. Ben Jones, prosecuting, said that the woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, reported the matter to the police two days later. In a victim impact statement she said how “used to be a very social person and an out-going personality and now very much changed and feels very paranoid and over-protective of her children.” She stated that her “behaviour and moods have become erratic when she think about these events. She has flashbacks and has taken anti-depressant medication.” Mr Jones said: “She expresses the wish that he understands what he has done to her.” After being a bingo caller in Birkenhead he was a postman in Weston-Super-Mare for nine years but after twice slipping on ice he suffered spinal injuries and moved back to Wirral.