June 2009 CARLISLE OAP JAILED FOR SICK ABUSE OF THREE GIRLS A Carlisle pensioner has been jailed for six years for sexually abusing three schoolgirls. William James, 70, of Bannisdale Way, Morton, was also ordered to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and was banned from ever having unsupervised contact with anyone under 18. A judge at the city’s crown court told him that he would have gone to jail for “very much longer” if he had been a younger man. James had been found guilty of five charges of indecent assault – one on a 15-year-old, one on an 11-year-old and three on a girl who was slightly older. But, the court heard that despite his actions, he still denies doing anything wrong and claims his victims made up their stories so they could claim compensation. Judge Paul Batty QC described James’s crimes as “revolting”. He said the girls’ statements of how they had been affected by them made “harrowing” reading. The judge said that James could not even be given credit for saving the girls from the ordeal of giving evidence. “All of your vulnerable victims had to relive their experiences in this court,” he said.