August 2009 A SEX offender who indecently assaulted a young girl is refusing treatment and plans to leave the Isle of Man, it has been revealed. Former soldier John Harry Bridson was initially charged with rape but the charge was amended on the day his trial was due to start. He admitted indecently assaulting the girl, who cannot be identified, in April 2007 when she was just eight. Bridson, 34, was jailed for 28 months and was due to be released on July 28. But in June his sentence was increased to 42 months’ custody following an appeal by the Attorney General’s Chambers. Deemster Kerruish and Appeal Judge Geoffrey Tattersall said it was a very serious offence committed by a man who had already been convicted of similar sexual offences. The appeal judges said there was a high risk of him re-offending and girls and young women, to whom Bridson recognised he was sexually attracted to, required protecting. They also extended a sexual offences prevention order against Bridson from eight years until ‘further order’. A further judgment, addressing other parts of his sentence, was published last week. The judgement said Bridson ‘continued to offend over an extended period of time and breached registration in the UK and Isle of Man several times’ and no treatment had been undertaken. Bridson moved frequently between the Isle of Man and the UK when his behaviour caused problems, effectively avoiding intervention. In the latest judgment, the appeal judges extended his licence period froom 32 to months to 42 months. They also extended how long Bridson must comply with the Sexual Offenders Register for. The appeal judges said they hoped Bridson would recognise that treatment would be beneficial to himself and others. But they added: ‘The omens thus far are far from good in that he has chosen to decline treatment and leave this jurisdiction rather than face up to his difficulties. ‘Given such circumstances and the risks which he currently poses to young women, we cannot be satisfied that at the expiration of a period of 10 years or indeed, on the evidence before us, any other definitive period it will be Inappropriate that he should remain on the sex offenders register and be subject to the notification requirements.’ Bridson was dishonourably discharged from the Army after being convicted of indecent assault on a 15-year-old girl in 2000 by a court in Newcastle. He then received a caution for indecently assaulting a 12-year-old girl in 2002. Bridson was placed on the sex offenders’ register but breached it in 2003 by failing to mention his conviction on a job application, leading to him receiving a suspended sentence. He breached the terms of the register again in September 2004 and April 2005 by failing to notify the authorities when he changed his address. On the first occasion, he was ordered to perform community service and on the second, just two weeks after returning to the Isle of Man, he was jailed for three months. He had been removed from the sex offender register when he re-offended in April 2007. March 2009 Former soldier on sex offenders’ register assaults child A FORMER soldier has been jailed for indecently assaulting an eight-year-old girl. John Harry Bridson, c/o Isle of Man Prison, was first charged with rape but last week, on the day he was due to stand trial, the charge was cut to indecent assault after a review of evidence. The 34-year-old admitted the revised charge at the Court of General Gaol Delivery when he appeared before Acting Deemster Turner for sentencing on Friday. Bridson was jailed for 28 months but will serve half of the sentence, minus the nine months he has already spent on remand, giving him just five months behind bars. His inclusion on the sex offender register was limited to 10 years, and a sexual offences prevention order banning contact with children was limited to eight years, to give him ‘some hope for the future’. But Acting Deemster Turner said Bridson’s sentence had to punish him as much as rehabilitate him. He said: ‘As I walk round the Island, I see children playing together without supervision on the beaches and on the hills and parents feel their children are safe. ‘It is vitally important that this wonderful feature of life here is maintained, particularly as it does not exist on the mainland, where there is fear. ‘This means that men like you must be deterred from taking advantage of children and destroying their happiness and that of their parents.’ Stuart Neale, prosecuting, told the court Bridson was arrested in May 2008 after the girl, who cannot be identified, spoke about the incident at a house in the west of the Island in April 2007. The girl told police officers from the family protection unit that Bridson had not used threats or force. The court heard Bridson was dishonourably discharged from the Army after being convicted of indecent assault on a 15-year-old girl in 2000, by a court in Newcastle. He then received a caution for indecently assaulting a 12-year-old girl in 2002. Bridson was placed on the sex offender register but breached it in 2003 by failing to mention his conviction on a job application, leading to him receiving a suspended sentence. He breached the terms of the register again in September 2004 and April 2005 by failing to notify the authorities when he changed his address. On the first occasion, he was ordered to perform community service and on the second, just two weeks after returning to the Isle of Man, he was jailed for three months. He had been removed from the sex offender register by the time of the offence in 2007. Paul O’Neill, defending, said Bridson was stationed in Northern Ireland during the Omagh bomb attack in 1998 and his problems stemmed from trauma dealing with the aftermath. It was argued that, in his social inquiry report, Bridson had ‘for the first time in his life made admissions about a lifestyle and a predisposition that he requires and desires help to address’. PAGE 2 – Should the Isle of Man have Sarah’s Law?Should the Isle of Man have Sarah’s Law? THE introduction of Sarah’s Law to the Isle of Man could prevent sex offenders such as John Bridson from striking again. That’s the claim from Bill Henderson (Douglas North) who raised Bridson’s conviction in the House of Keys this week as he called for Manx trials of a scheme to allow parents controlled access to information on paedophiles.