PAUL HOEY FROM PRESTON SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS FOR HISTORIC SEX OFFENCES INVOLVING CHILDREN

In a case that has spanned decades and finally brought justice to two victims, Paul Hoey, a 65-year-old man from Preston, was sentenced to a decade in prison for a series of heinous sexual offences committed against a young girl and a young boy during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Hoey, who resided on Butler Street in Preston, pleaded guilty to a total of 17 charges related to the abuse inflicted upon the children, starting when the girl was just seven years old and the boy was only four. The offences took place over a period of approximately six years, from 1977 to 1983, during which Hoey subjected the children to repeated acts of sexual misconduct, including forcing them to perform indecent acts with him and with each other.

In addition to these charges, Hoey also admitted to possessing extreme animal pornography, a disturbing detail that added to the severity of his criminal record. The case was heard at Preston Crown Court, where the victims, who had remained silent for over 30 years, finally broke their silence to describe the profound and lasting impact of Hoey’s actions on their lives.

During the sentencing, Judge Pamela Badley expressed her condemnation of Hoey’s actions, stating, “The blame for your victims’ suffering is on your shoulders, Paul Hoey, because you were the person who made the young lives of these children, a boy and girl, a misery. You continued to have this effect from afar while they grew to adult lives and had the effect of their tortured childhood re-lived for them on a daily basis.”

The court heard that Hoey’s abuse was frequent, sometimes occurring three or four times a week, and involved not only the children but also forced sexual acts between the children themselves. Prosecutor Francis McEntee described the acts as “a series of indecencies and indignities” so horrific that they could not be fully detailed in a newspaper. The abuse had a profound and pervasive effect on the victims’ lives, impacting their relationships and their ability to function in everyday settings.

Hoey, who is originally from Northern Ireland, initially denied the allegations but changed his plea to guilty on the first day of his trial in April of this year. His defense attorney, Kath Johnson, stated that Hoey’s guilty plea was intended to spare his victims further distress. However, the judge noted that if the offences had been committed under current laws, charges of rape and assault by penetration would have been included, potentially resulting in a longer prison sentence.

In her sentencing remarks, Judge Badley described the behaviour as “depraved and disgusting,” emphasizing that Hoey’s actions appeared to be a lifestyle choice driven by his own sexual desires, at the expense of the innocence of his young victims. The court also ordered Hoey to be placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely and noted that he could be eligible for release on licence after serving two-thirds of his sentence.

Following the case, the victims expressed a sense of relief and closure. One female victim, now middle-aged, said, “Today we do feel a sense of closure and a sense that finally something has been done to acknowledge our suffering and the crimes that we suffered. The horrific effects he’s had upon the lives of his victims, that’s something people maybe don’t realize. Being a child victim stays with you for life. It’s not something that ever goes away.”

The younger male victim added, “You could see with him that his actions certainly weren’t of a guilty man. He had no remorse or any thought in his head about anybody other than himself. There was not one mention of ‘I’m sorry for the crimes I’ve committed’. In fact, there was almost a look of arrogance about him, as if to say how dare we take him to court and make him pay for the crimes he has committed.”