EDWARD BREEDS FROM WEELEY SENTENCED TO FIVE YEARS FOR SEXUAL OFFENCES AGAINST A YOUNG GIRL

In April 1999, a man from Weeley was sentenced to prison for sexually abusing an eight-year-old girl. Edward Breeds, aged 22 at the time, pleaded guilty to multiple charges including two counts of attempted rape, three counts of indecent assault, and two counts of gross indecency with a child under 16. The offences occurred between Christmas 1994, when the girl was just six, and 1998, after Breeds had moved from Kent to Chisbon Heath, Weeley.

Chelmsford Crown Court was told that Breeds would pinch the girl’s bottom and later touched her intimately. Prosecutor Stephen Harvey explained that many of the crimes happened while they watched television in bed, but also involved Breeds holding her hands behind her back and touching her while she was standing.

The girl told police, “I was crying my eyes out. He would say ‘This feels good,’ and I kept saying I didn’t like it and that I would tell my dad.” Mr. Harvey added, “He told her that no-one would believe her.”

After his arrest, Breeds told officers, “I tried to stop myself but I didn’t know how.” However, he also claimed that “she had instigated sexual play.”

During mitigation, Jeremy Lynn stated that Breeds had the intellectual capacity equivalent to a 12-year-old, with an IQ of 76. He argued that Breeds did not pose a danger to the public or children, emphasizing that “Mr. Breeds knows it was wrong and is very ashamed and regrets what he has done from the bottom of his heart.”

Judge Benjamin Pearson sentenced Breeds to a total of five years in prison and ordered him to remain on the sex offenders register indefinitely. Describing Breeds’ actions as “disgraceful and disgusting,” the judge said, “Your young victim was clearly very frightened by what you were doing and attempting to do to her. This was systematic and determined sexual abuse of a very young child. Such behaviour cannot and will not be tolerated.”