Telford man who abused teenage boy has freedom bid refused
A man who was jailed for 13 years for the abuse of a teenage boy has failed in a Court of Appeal bid for freedom.
Simon Walker, 40, subjected the youngster to a string of sexual attacks in the late 1990s.
But the offences did not come to light until many years later and he was jailed in July 2015.
Walker, of Brookside, Telford, was convicted of six indecent assaults, three counts of gross indecency and attempted rape at Leeds Crown Court.
His case was back in court in London in February after his lawyers launched an appeal against his convictions and sentence.
They claimed prosecution errors in drawing up case documents were so serious that the verdicts should be quashed.
But Lady Justice Hallett said that, despite there having been an error, the convictions were "correctly recorded".
Walker claimed that additional evidence, not before the trial judge, should have resulted in a shorter sentence.
But Lady Justice Hallett said the material had not been placed before the Court of Appeal.
She rejected his application for an adjournment to gather the evidence.
"There is therefore nothing before us to suggest that the overall sentence imposed was in any way excessive," she concluded.
Th horrific abuse of the 13-year-old victim had left his life "irreparably damaged", said the judge.
The judge heard the appeal alongside Mr Justice Spencer and Sir David Maddison and delivered judgment today.
