JOHN ALLEN, WISBECH SEX OFFENDER, SENTENCED TO NINE YEARS BY COURT

In October 2012, John Allen, 63, formerly of St Edmund’s Drive, Emneth, now residing on Falklands Drive in Wisbech, was sentenced to nine years in prison for a series of sexual offences. Allen had denied the allegations but was found guilty by a jury of ten crimes committed between 1994 and 2000 in Wisbech.

During his September trial at Cambridge Crown Court, Allen claimed the 20 alleged incidents never occurred, asserting that the woman, now 27, had fabricated the claims after learning he had received £250,000 in compensation from Wisbech Port Authority following an industrial accident that resulted in the loss of part of his leg.

The victim did not report the allegations to the police until September 2010 and officially pursued the case in January 2011.

On sentencing on Friday, Judge Jonathan Haworth stated: “It is clear you have no regard for the well-being of the complainant. You suggest that these allegations are motivated simply by greed for money – which I entirely reject.”

The judge addressed Allen directly, noting the support from his wife of 23 years and their two daughters: “You were so confident that you could avoid responsibility that you were quite prepared to acknowledge that something had happened to your wife, although you minimized it, and you were willing to discuss other sexual liaisons with your psychologist. To this day, you have persisted in denying these serious offences.”

He added a warning: “Your whole attitude to this offending has been that no one can touch me. Well, you are going to be touched now.”

Allen was sentenced to a total of nine years for one count of rape, four counts of indecent assault, and five charges of indecency with a child.

The judge noted that the only mitigating factor was Allen's physical condition, which would make serving a custodial sentence more burdensome. Allen suffered a serious accident in 2009 while working as a marine services supervisor at Wisbech docks, a position he held for 30 years. The accident led to ten surgeries, culminating in a below-knee amputation of his left leg in February of that year.

At the time of sentencing, Allen was in a wheelchair at the dock but was also able to move on crutches. The court also ordered him to register as a sex offender for life and imposed a sexual offences prevention order for 12 years. This order bans him from any contact with the complainant and from having unsupervised contact with a child under 16 without the parents' knowledge of his convictions.