DUNCAN GURNEY OF WESTCLIFF SENTENCED FOR CHILD SEX OFFENSES IN BASILDON
| Red Rose Database
Westcliff Hackney Rapist
In February 1999, a man from Westcliff named Duncan Gurney, aged 49, was convicted of heinous crimes involving the sexual abuse of three young children. A jury at Basildon Crown Court deliberated for nearly ten hours before finding Gurney guilty on six counts of rape, six counts of indecent assault, and three counts of cruelty towards the victims. However, the jury did not reach a unanimous decision regarding two specific allegations, and Gurney was acquitted of charges related to hanging two of the children from a balcony by their feet.
During the three-week trial, court proceedings revealed that Gurney took particular pleasure in humiliating his young victims sexually. It was exposed that he would intimidate two schoolgirls into sexual acts during daylight hours while his battered wife was sent out to work as a prostitute. Gurney also reportedly employed cruel tactics, such as hanging helpless children from doors by their jumpers and molesting the girls and assaulting the boy.
The crimes occurred between 1981 and 1985, but the victims only came forward to report the abuse two years prior to the trial. Many of the children broke down emotionally while recounting their traumatic experiences. One of the victims, now 25 years old, described Gurney's behaviour as treating them "like animals and dogs, and snap his fingers if he wanted anything." She recounted an attack when she attempted to escape from his flat in Hackney, east London, saying: "I screamed out, ‘Please don’t, I want my mum,’ but he just said, ‘Shut up, and shut your mouth. If you scream again I will break your neck.’ He then raped me. I was ten years old at the time."
The victim also described how Gurney would beat his wife and expose her to street prostitution to finance his drinking and betting habits. She added: “He would often throw dinner plates at her if the peas were cold and things like that.”
Following the conviction, Gurney was sentenced to 14 years in prison. The attacks ceased as the victims grew older, but the impact of his abuse remains profoundly tragic.
During the three-week trial, court proceedings revealed that Gurney took particular pleasure in humiliating his young victims sexually. It was exposed that he would intimidate two schoolgirls into sexual acts during daylight hours while his battered wife was sent out to work as a prostitute. Gurney also reportedly employed cruel tactics, such as hanging helpless children from doors by their jumpers and molesting the girls and assaulting the boy.
The crimes occurred between 1981 and 1985, but the victims only came forward to report the abuse two years prior to the trial. Many of the children broke down emotionally while recounting their traumatic experiences. One of the victims, now 25 years old, described Gurney's behaviour as treating them "like animals and dogs, and snap his fingers if he wanted anything." She recounted an attack when she attempted to escape from his flat in Hackney, east London, saying: "I screamed out, ‘Please don’t, I want my mum,’ but he just said, ‘Shut up, and shut your mouth. If you scream again I will break your neck.’ He then raped me. I was ten years old at the time."
The victim also described how Gurney would beat his wife and expose her to street prostitution to finance his drinking and betting habits. She added: “He would often throw dinner plates at her if the peas were cold and things like that.”
Following the conviction, Gurney was sentenced to 14 years in prison. The attacks ceased as the victims grew older, but the impact of his abuse remains profoundly tragic.