DENNIS KING SHOEBURY PAEDOPHILE ESCAPED JUSTICE FOR 60 YEARS DESPITE POLICE INFORMANT REVELATION

In a disturbing case that spans over six decades, Dennis King, a notorious sex offender from Shoebury, managed to evade true justice despite numerous convictions and allegations of abuse. His criminal history, which began in 1958, illustrates a pattern of repeated offenses that persisted well into his later years, raising serious questions about the handling and possible complicity of authorities involved.

Robin Jamieson, a retired NHS manager, vividly described King as 'The Teflon Paedo,' emphasizing how he seemed to slip through the cracks of justice time and again. Jamieson pointed out that King, who was first convicted of sex offenses in 1958, accumulated convictions across seven consecutive decades. Remarkably, even at the age of 83, he appeared in court last year, yet the sentences handed down to him remained consistently lenient. Jamieson noted, “No matter how many times he reoffended, whenever he came back before the court, the judge would give him a really lenient sentence again.”

One notable case occurred in Peterborough in 2000, where a judge initially indicated that King was eligible for a ten-year prison term but ultimately sentenced him to just seven months. Child protection workers, who had witnessed the devastating impact of King’s abuse on children involved in the infamous 1980s Shoebury Sex Ring, were deeply frustrated by the light sentences and perceived lack of accountability. Their concerns about the authorities’ handling of the case led to threats and intimidation, fueling suspicions that there was more to the story than publicly known.

In April 2018, an NSPCC officer assigned to the Shoebury case, who was later seconded to assist police in monitoring and apprehending paedophiles, voiced a suspicion that King was a police informant. The officer stated, “I strongly suspected King was a police informant, and the more experience I’ve had since, I’m more convinced. I believe he probably had all sorts on all sorts of people.”

Eight months later, this suspicion was confirmed through newly uncovered documentation. A report authored by a Children’s Society worker in 1993 revealed that a police officer had admitted King was a 'registered informant.' The officer claimed that King’s role as an informant had 'no bearing' on his lenient treatment by the justice system. When whistleblowers presented this information, they responded with disbelief and laughter, underscoring the gravity of the revelation.

Born in Billericay in April 1935 as the sixth of eight children, King grew up in Southend. Legal claims later suggested that he was sexually abused from the age of seven, which may have contributed to his compulsive re-enactment of abuse with children throughout his life. As a young man, King openly identified as gay, which was illegal at the time, but his true sexual interests extended to children of both genders.

His criminal record began early, with his first conviction in 1958, followed by another in 1959. By 1964, he had served a six-month sentence for attempting to engage in sexual activity with children as young as nine, and a year-long jail term for attempting to procure indecency. In 1966, King committed a particularly heinous act by abusing two boys aged 13 and 14 in a public toilet on Southend seafront, then taking them to his flat in Ailsa Drive, Westcliff, where one spent the night in his bed. He was sentenced to seven years for attempted buggery.

Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, King faced multiple prosecutions, but by the late 1980s, his abuse had escalated from personal acts to a criminal enterprise. He moved to Cunningham Close, Shoebury, residing on one of the most deprived estates, surrounded by prostitutes and heroin addicts. Despite living in a council flat and claiming employment at a café, King drove sports cars and outfitted his home with advanced technology. Locally, he was known as a fence for stolen goods, but his darker activities involved selling sex with children.

In May 1989, King and Brian Tanner of Westcliff were arrested on suspicion of running a paedophile ring. By June of that year, 14 victims had come forward, and by January 1990, the number of victims had grown to over 60. These children had been transported across Essex and London to be abused by King and other men who paid him for access to the victims. Disturbingly, victims also reported police officers visiting King’s flat and an underage brothel and drugs den in the vicinity.

Charities working with the victims questioned why these allegations were not being thoroughly investigated. A county councillor from the Conservative Party hinted at the involvement of 'high-up people,' suggesting a cover-up. An amateur investigator, a teenager, was warned off by two CID officers and left with a black eye, while a police officer drunkenly admitted to being instructed to 'do a hatchet job' on the charity workers.

King and Tanner’s trial was scheduled for April 1990, with seven boys prepared to testify. The charges against them involved 'specimen charges,' which indicated similar abuse of dozens more victims. After decades of offending, the case was finally poised to secure a conviction for buggery and remove King from society permanently. However, on the day of the trial, prosecutors offered a plea deal. The buggery charges were reduced to 'attempted,' and the conspiracy charges were left on file.

During sentencing, the defense argued that the victims, some as young as ten, had been the instigators of the abuse, a claim accepted by the judge. King’s lawyer even stated that his client intended to undergo chemical castration to prevent further offenses. Tanner received a three-year sentence, while King was sentenced to four years—remarkably less than the seven years he received in 1966 for abusing two boys on a single occasion. Child protection workers and victims’ advocates were appalled by the leniency.

Prosecutors claimed the plea deal was made to shield the victims from testifying, but the victims were not consulted beforehand. Instead, they were smeared during sentencing, further traumatizing them. By 1993, King appeared to have abandoned the idea of chemical castration and resumed exploiting underage girls. Two girls provided detailed allegations, leading to police surveillance.

During this investigation, police officer Bob Fugl disclosed to a charity worker that a senior officer was 'blocking' the inquiry and confirmed that King was a 'registered informant.'

In 1993, King moved in with Ivor Howes, a former county councillor in Lincolnshire, but this arrangement was short-lived as Howes died in November of that year. King then relocated to Peterborough, where he was convicted in 1996 of indecently assaulting a boy and possessing indecent images of children. Within a year, he had committed further offenses, including abusing another boy and taking more indecent images, resulting in a five-year sentence, which was later reduced on appeal. Subsequent convictions included a 1999 sexual assault on a 19-year-old man, for which he received seven months, and further offenses in 2008, leading to a court order.

In 2012, police raided King’s residence and discovered walls adorned with framed child pornography he had taken himself. He was convicted in 2013 of seven indecent images offenses, with the court noting he had over 30 sex crime convictions. He received a 12-month sentence. After his release, he propositioned a 14-year-old boy and was sentenced to 13 months. Following another breach of a court order, he received yet another court order.

In 2016, a Youth and Adult investigation into the Shoebury Sex Ring prompted Essex Police to revisit the case. Five new victims came forward, leading to King’s arrest. However, in late 2017, police decided to take no further action against him without referring evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service, claiming that a review of the 1990 case found no evidence of corruption. In 2018, King was scheduled to stand trial in Peterborough for paying a teenage boy for sex, but the Crown Prosecution Service decided it was not in the public interest due to his failing health, as he was 'physically at death’s door.'

King died in November 2018 from AIDS, raising concerns about the health and safety of his numerous victims. Despite ongoing investigations, Essex Police continues to examine the Shoebury Sex Ring, especially after a new complainant provided months of interviews in November 2018. However, whistleblowers and campaigners now question whether Essex Police should be handling the case at all, given the history of alleged corruption and cover-ups surrounding King’s long and depraved criminal career.