MICHAEL BRIGNULL, THE CANVEY PERVERT, SENTENCED FOR ABUSE AND CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

In April 2014, a heartbreaking case emerged from Canvey involving a mother who publicly shared her devastating experience of her daughter’s abuse by a man she once trusted implicitly. The woman, whose identity remains protected for legal reasons, recounted the profound guilt she felt for not believing her daughter when she first disclosed the abuse. Michael Brignull, aged 60 and residing at Thorney Bay Caravan Park on Canvey, was sentenced last week to 11 years in prison after being found guilty of multiple heinous offences against a young girl, who was a friend’s daughter.

According to the mother, her relationship with Brignull spanned over 27 years, during which he was considered a close family friend. She described him as someone who was so integrated into their lives that he would often join them for Christmas dinners, and her children would spend school holidays with him. She referred to Brignull as a “surrogate grandfather,” emphasizing the level of trust and familiarity that existed between them.

The victim, now 17 years old, had been at her brother’s 18th birthday celebration when she confided in a family friend about the abuse she had suffered at the hands of Brignull. Her mother recounted her initial reaction: “My first thought was ‘oh my God, she is a bloody liar’. I thought she was just jealous because her brother was getting all the attention for his 18th birthday. I did not believe her at all.”

However, the following day, the mother confronted her daughter, who was then 16. She recalled, “I told her, ‘put your coat on, we are going to the police station’. She was hysterical and refused to go. A few days later, she wrote me a letter explaining what Mick had done to her.” The daughter expressed her reluctance to discuss the abuse, prompting her mother to respond with a letter of her own. This correspondence continued for some time until the mother decided to take the letters to the police.

In March 2012, Essex Police officers arrived at the family’s home to investigate the allegations. The mother described the officers’ approach: “They said, ‘we understand you don’t believe your daughter’,” and then presented her with a cropped image found on Brignull’s laptop. The image was of her daughter being abused, which devastated her and shattered her previous disbelief. She admitted, “I was devastated I had not believed her and this could have gone on without me ever suspecting.”

Reflecting on her daughter’s reluctance to disclose the abuse earlier, the mother said, “I started to remember small things. The children used to go to Mick’s for holidays, but one day he said he could no longer take my son because he was naughty, so my daughter continued going alone. She said she didn’t want to go a few times, but I thought she was just being difficult. Now I realize that was probably an excuse to get her there alone.”

It is believed that the abuse spanned much of the victim’s childhood, with the mother revealing that her daughter had kept silent to avoid upsetting her. “She didn’t want to tell me what was happening,” she explained, “because she didn’t want to hurt me. This has torn our family apart, and I am ashamed that I didn’t believe my little girl.”

Following the revelations, the victim and her family moved away from Essex to escape the trauma. Police described Brignull as a “dangerous man who wormed his way into a family,” highlighting the manipulative nature of his actions. Detective Constable Mark Matthews from Essex Police stated that Brignull was a person who “threatened the safety of others.”

Brignull was convicted on multiple charges, including possession of indecent images of a child, taking indecent images of a child, causing a female to engage in sexual activity without consent, sexual activity with a female under 16, and two counts of attempted rape. Detective Constable Matthews emphasized, “He is a dangerous man who wormed his way into this family and then abused his position of trust over a prolonged period of time. He effectively became the children’s unofficial surrogate grandfather, then took them to his caravan where he sexually abused them. He posed a threat to many, but now that he is behind bars, he can no longer threaten the safety of others.”