St Leonards Paedophile Jailed

5 February 2019, 18:18 | Updated: 5 February 2019, 18:20

A former East Sussex taxi driver has been given an 18-year prison sentence for a series of sex assaults on two young girls.

Harry Miah, 53, of Norfolk Drive, St Leonards, was sentenced at Hove Crown Court on Monday 4 February.

The offences happened between 1991 and 1998 in the Hastings area.

Miah was a home to school taxi driver who took care of vulnerable young children and escorting them to school and home.

During the taxi school run he sexually abused a schoolgirl aged between 12 and 15 on multiple occasions.

In September last year he had been convicted after a trial of two counts of indecency with a child and one count of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, all in relation to that victim.

During the same period Miah also sexually abused another young girl he knew, from the age of six into her teenage years.

He was convicted of two counts of indecency with a child after a trial in September last year.

In January this year he pleaded guilty to another count of indecency with a child and one count of attempted rape, all in relation to that girl.

He also pleaded guilty to possession of extreme pornography found on his computer when police seized and examined it after his arrest.

Miah will be a registered sex offender for life and was also given a lifelong Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) severely restricting his access to children and computers.

PC Kelley Gray of the Hastings-based Safeguarding Investigations Unit said; "This has been a really difficult and distressing case, due to it's historic nature and to the challenge of sensitively but fully obtaining the evidence from such a long time ago, but this outcome shows that it is possible.

"This investigation started in April 2016 when the victim of the offences in Miah's taxi contacted us about a separate matter and was triggered by this into recalling and disclosing what had happened to her in the 1990's.

"This has been a very long process for everyone involved. Both victims showed great courage and strength in coming forward to describe the horrific events that they have experienced, events that as young vulnerable children they should never have had to endure.

"Victims of this type of offending do not need to suffer in silence. If you, or people you know, are being abused in this way, contact us in confidence at any time online or by calling 101,and arrange to talk in confidence to experienced investigators."