July 2012 Sex offender who took advantage of boy jailed for 11 years Paedophile Mark Hobday has been jailed for 11 years after committing a string of offences against a young boy. Hobday, 51, of Chichester Road, Cleethorpes, denied nine offences involving sexually assaulting the boy. He was convicted of all nine charges by a jury at Grimsby Crown Court after a trial. The court heard that Hobday took advantage of the boy and committed sexual offences with him on a number of occasions between July 22 and September 10 last year. Hobday was given an indefinite sexual offences prevention order and was told to sign the sex offenders’ register for life. He was also banned from working with children for life. After the hearing, officer in the case Detective Constable Melanie Goodman said she was extremely pleased with the verdicts and added that it was clear from the speed with which the jury returned its decision that it had no doubt as to who was telling the truth. Det Con Goodman said she wanted to thank the family of the victim for their support and co-operation throughout the investigation and hoped that they could now move on from this difficult period in their lives. Detective Sergeant John Shepherd, from the public protection team, said he was extremely pleased with the length of the sentence. He said: “Mark Hobday not only abused the child but sought to put the child through the further traumatic experience of having his evidence challenged in court. “It is only right that, in such cases, the most harsh sentences are given out by the court. “Those who offend against vulnerable people must understand that they will be found out and punished. “It takes a great deal of courage for victims to come forward and tell the police of their ordeal. “We hope that cases such as this will encourage other victims to come forward and allow the police to bring offenders to justice.”