DAVID PRATT SENTENCED TO 24 YEARS IN PRISON IN BRADFORD FOR CHILD SEX OFFENSES
| Red Rose Database
Bradford Salford Rapist
In November 2011, David Leslie Pratt, a 47-year-old described as an 'evil, monstrous and predatory' child rapist and serial sexual abuser, was sentenced to 24 years in prison for a series of heinous offences committed against young victims as young as three.
At Bradford Crown Court, a judge labeled Pratt as ‘bestial and barbaric’ for his relentless assault spanning 15 years, which involved four children who had to relive their ‘absolute horror’ during testimony. Pratt was convicted of 20 charges, including sexually abusing and raping a girl from the age of four until she was 15. He was also found guilty of systematic sexual molestation of three other children, with evidence indicating he even encouraged two of them to perform depraved acts on each other.
Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC praised the victims, now adults living away from the area, for their 'compelling accounts' given in court. The judge remarked, ‘It is rare to see such a routine, relentless, prolonged, systematic, callous and persistent abuse,’ before condemning Pratt directly: ‘You are evil, you are a monster.’
The court heard that Pratt’s offending was partly fueled by alcohol and possibly related to his ‘mental limitations.’ The judge noted that Pratt first targeted his initial victim when she was about four years old, with routine sexual assaults escalating to rape when she was 11 or 12. Pratt reportedly covered her mouth during the assault and threatened to kill her if she told anyone. According to the judge, he raped her as she ‘screamed and fought and freaked out.’
One young child was exploited as ‘a sex toy’ at just two or three years old, while others were forced to watch pornography and were given Tia Maria liqueur before being sexually assaulted. Judge Durham Hall stated that the girl who was raped had her life ‘utterly destroyed.’ During the proceedings, one victim broke down in tears on the witness stand and issued death threats to Pratt in her testimony.
Pratt, who had moved from Bradford to an address on James Street in Salford, Greater Manchester, was characterized by the judge as ‘out of control and beyond the pale,’ highlighting that he had ‘no moral bounds whatsoever.’ The judge further expressed that while he could not undo the victims' suffering, he hoped that their pain would be duly punished. He also praised Detective Constable Sonia Hutchinson of West Yorkshire Police’s Child and Public Protection Unit for her role in securing justice, saying, ‘Helping to bring an evil man to justice.’
After the case, DC Hutchinson expressed her gratitude to the victims, stating, ‘I would like to thank the victims for having the courage to come forward after such a horrendous crime.’
At Bradford Crown Court, a judge labeled Pratt as ‘bestial and barbaric’ for his relentless assault spanning 15 years, which involved four children who had to relive their ‘absolute horror’ during testimony. Pratt was convicted of 20 charges, including sexually abusing and raping a girl from the age of four until she was 15. He was also found guilty of systematic sexual molestation of three other children, with evidence indicating he even encouraged two of them to perform depraved acts on each other.
Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC praised the victims, now adults living away from the area, for their 'compelling accounts' given in court. The judge remarked, ‘It is rare to see such a routine, relentless, prolonged, systematic, callous and persistent abuse,’ before condemning Pratt directly: ‘You are evil, you are a monster.’
The court heard that Pratt’s offending was partly fueled by alcohol and possibly related to his ‘mental limitations.’ The judge noted that Pratt first targeted his initial victim when she was about four years old, with routine sexual assaults escalating to rape when she was 11 or 12. Pratt reportedly covered her mouth during the assault and threatened to kill her if she told anyone. According to the judge, he raped her as she ‘screamed and fought and freaked out.’
One young child was exploited as ‘a sex toy’ at just two or three years old, while others were forced to watch pornography and were given Tia Maria liqueur before being sexually assaulted. Judge Durham Hall stated that the girl who was raped had her life ‘utterly destroyed.’ During the proceedings, one victim broke down in tears on the witness stand and issued death threats to Pratt in her testimony.
Pratt, who had moved from Bradford to an address on James Street in Salford, Greater Manchester, was characterized by the judge as ‘out of control and beyond the pale,’ highlighting that he had ‘no moral bounds whatsoever.’ The judge further expressed that while he could not undo the victims' suffering, he hoped that their pain would be duly punished. He also praised Detective Constable Sonia Hutchinson of West Yorkshire Police’s Child and Public Protection Unit for her role in securing justice, saying, ‘Helping to bring an evil man to justice.’
After the case, DC Hutchinson expressed her gratitude to the victims, stating, ‘I would like to thank the victims for having the courage to come forward after such a horrendous crime.’