August 2005 SEX-ABUSE JOINER IS JAILED A CARLISLE joiner who sexually abused a boy and a girl has been jailed for eight years. Brian Barnes has also been placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life and banned from working with children. The 54-year-old, of Buchanan Road, Upperby, stumbled in the dock when he was sentenced at the city’s crown court yesterday. Judge Paul Batty QC described the offences, which took place between January 1998 and January 2000, as grave. He told Barnes: “It is plain to me, having watched you during your trial and today, that you have not shown one ounce of remorse. “You forced your victims to relive the experience of the sexual abuse that you meted out to them over a period of time.” Barnes was found guilty earlier this month of nine offences, but his barrister, Greg Hoare, said he maintained his innocence. Mr Hoare said: “He regards the convictions as being wrongful. His world has been shattered and he has been threatened in prison.” He said he was something of a loner who had not been given support by his family after the offences came to light last year. At one point during sentencing, Barnes tried to say something, but was told to be quiet by the judge. Barnes was convicted of two charges of indecent assault on the girl, three of indecent assault on the boy, three of committing gross indecency with the boy and one of committing a serious sex act on him. The victims’ identities are protected by law.