December 2009 SEX CASE MAN SENTENCED A MIDDLE-AGED man has been given a three-year community rehabilitation order for sex offences he carried out more than 30 years ago. A court heard Brian Haddow had already served the equivalent of a 15-month jail sentence while on remand. Yesterday, a judge at Preston Crown Court said a rehabilitation order would provide the best protection for society as it would include a sex offenders treatmentprogramme. If a prison sentence was passed, the defendant would not be in jail much longer. Haddow, 53, of Kirk Flatt, Great Urswick, pleaded guilty to eight charges of indecency and two further offences of attempting to commit a serious sexual offence. The offences dated back to the 1970s in the Ulverston area and involved a boy under sixteen. Haddow was 17 years old when the offences began. Miss Lisa Roberts, prosecuting, said the complainant contacted his local police last year to tell them what had happened while he was a boy. The case involved sexual touching but also attempts by the defendant to have sex with him. Haddow had told the boy initially not to tell anyone what had happened. The defendant was arrested and charged in March this year. He did not have any previous convictions. Miss Farrhat Arshad, defending, said Haddow had entered very prompt guilty pleas. There was no suggestion of any impropriety in the years since the offences took place. He had been married but his wife divorced him as a result of his arrest and he lost his home. Miss Arshad told the court: “He has expressed remorse and regret. “He himself would have lacked maturity at the time and presented as much younger than his biological age. “I submit to the court that he does not present any danger to children or anyone else in the future.” Haddow spent the past seven and a half months on remand in custody – the equivalent of a 15-month prison sentence. The rehabilitation order will involve supervision and a sex offenders treatment programme. Judge Andrew Woolman told Haddow what he did was wicked, and said normally there would be an immediate prison sentence. He said the defendant was someone with limited intelligence and functioning ability. The judge said he had no doubt the defendant’s activities had some effect on the victim. Judge Woolman said: “I am faced with a dilemma. “The defendant has done a considerable time in custody. “If I passed an immediate prison sentence, no helpful work would be done in prison. “It would not be long enough. “The question is what is best for society at large. “A community order would be the best protection for society.” Haddow will be on the Sex Offenders’ Register for five years.