August 2004 Paedophile’s sentence labelled sickening by victim’s family A 70-YEAR-OLD man from Feltham who sexually molested a young boy, avoided prison because he is in the terminal stages of cancer. Said to have only months to live, a very frail Ian Mansell of Guildford Avenue, appeared in the dock at Isleworth Crown Court on Monday and pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting a seven-year-old boy last November. Two further charges of indecently assaulting other young boys and one of gross indecency with one, were ‘left on the file’. Mansell had two previous convictions for similar offences in 1983 and 1997. Prosecutor John Hulme told the court Mansell had become friendly with the boys who lived near him. He would visit from time to time and on this occasion “he sat the boy on his knee and gave him a mobile ‘phone on which to play games. While the boy was there he put his hand down his trousers.” Having handed in medical reports on Mansell who is suffering from leukaemia, his counsel, Chris Amor accepted the offence merited a prison sentence but asked that it should be suspended because of his failing health. Judge Hezlett Colgan agreed and, accepting his “genuine remorse” suspended a nine month prison sentence for two years. In addition, Mansell must sign on the sex offenders’ register – officially for five years. The sister of one of the boys involved, who alerted police to the case but cannot be named for legal reasons, told the Times that they were shocked at the leniency of the sentence: “Nine months is nothing compared to what we have been through. This man has done it before and gotten away with it. No-one knows how long it’s gone on for. “He was an old man doing odd bits of work that used to come around for coffee – we didn’t think anything about it at the time. It’s disgusting to think that he’s done this before and still hasn’t gone to prison.He has ruined my brother’s life and that of a close friend of mine.” Mansell, named as Ian in court, had told the family his first name was Peter.