CONVICTED paedophile John Allen has been told by a judge he committed “seriously depraved behaviour” as he sentenced him on eight new counts of historical child abuse.

Allen, 78, remained passive and emotionless throughout, as His Honour Judge Rhys Rowlands sentenced him to 14 and a 1/2 years in prison for the offences against five new victims.

Allen is already serving a life sentence following his conviction in 2014 against 19 other children, with the Judge telling him how the acts breached a high degree of trust.

He said: “Following your previous convictions, where each of your victims suffered the most appalling abuse, other victims have since came forward.

“There are now five more victims who are now all middle aged men and it is testament to their courage that they came forward and gave testimony in the way they did.

Philip Marshall, Senior Investigator at National Crime Agency

“Your victims have had to live with your behaviour for the rest of their lives. For many years, you doubtless believed you had got away with what you did, but now three separate juries have convicted you.”

Allen was found guilty at Mold Crown Court back in December of the eight new counts, which included one of attempted buggery and seven of indecent assault, against five boys who had all been placed into care homes he owned and managed across Wrexham, including at Bryn Alyn.

Prosecuting barrister Miss Catherine Donnelly, read out victim impact statements made by each of the five, who are now all middle aged men, with one of them stating how the abuse he suffered at the hands of Allen had led him down a path towards heroin addiction. The victim said how heroin “helped him to forget” and “made it disappear for a while” and how he wished he had remained at home and “taken the beatings” because that would have been better than what Allen did to him.

Miss Donnelly said: “Mr Allen is a man who took advantage of very vulnerable children who had been placed into his care.

“Rather than provide them with the help they so needed, he instead used them for his own sexual pleasure.”

One of the other victims, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said how Allen had been “an intimidating character” and that it took him a long time to realise he was being used to “satisfy his sexual desires.”

Miss Donnelly called on Judge Rowlands to sentence Allen in a manner that would extend the period of his earliest possible release date, which had been September 1 2025, with the sentence given likely to do just that, with Allen now not likely to be eligible for parole until he has completed two-thirds of the new 14 and a half year sentence.

Defence barrister Mark Barlow told the court how his client was in “as good a health as he could be for a man of his age” and that these latest convictions were not as serious as the ones he had been convicted of previously, with the attempted buggery being just a single incident. However, his calls for a determined sentenced to be applied were not taken up by the Judge.

Judge Rowlands handed Allen seven years for that particular crime, as well as two years for each of three counts of indecent assault, with another indecent assault warranting an 18 month sentence, with all to be served consecutively of each other. Allen was handed no separate penalty against three other charges of indecent assault. He told him: “There is no evidence at all of any contrition or remorse on your part. In fact, the opposite is true as you have stood trial on three occasions. Despite having no qualifications, you were able to successfully set up and establish numerous care homes across North East Wales. You were in charge of the children who had been placed into your care. Their vulnerability was recognised and all of them were targeted by you. It is hard to decipher any mitigation whatsoever. The lives of these five victims has been blighted by your behaviour.”

As part of the same investigation by the National Crime Agency – Operation Pallial – Allen was previously sentenced for 33 offences of child sexual abuse in December 2014.

The abuse against the five victims happened during Allen’s 20 year reign running residential care homes in North Wales and London.

One victim said Allen regularly attempted to locate him around various homes, and he used to hide under the seats of the community handyman’s van, who would protect him from Allen.

Another told NCA investigators Allen rented a flat for him to live in, which Allen would occasionally visit and subject him to sexual acts.

NCA Senior Investigating Officer Philip Marshall said: “Allen used his position of trust to abuse boys who were young, vulnerable, and from disadvantaged backgrounds.

“He controlled and manipulated his victims, and rewarded them by giving cash and gifts that any young boy would want. The victims have been incredibly courageous coming forward to the NCA many years later and recounting the abuse they were subject to. Allen and others who committed crimes against defenceless children in North Wales care homes have been brought to justice, and I hope their victims can take some comfort in that.”

From 1968 until 1991, Allen operated various care homes for children in the Wrexham and London areas. The homes were collectively known as the Bryn Alyn Community, and were one of the UK’s largest providers of residential care for children. On 6 December 1993, Allen was arrested by North Wales Police regarding allegations of sexual abuse of children in care. He was convicted of six counts of indecent assault and sentenced to six years in January 1995.

After Allen’s conviction, North Wales Police began to receive additional complaints from previous residents. Operation Pallial – the independent NCA investigation into allegations of past abuse in the care system in North Wales – began in November 2012 at the request of Mark Polin, who was the Chief Constable of North Wales Police at the time.

A spokesman for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) said:”John Allen was supposed to be caring for vulnerable boys but instead took advantage of his position to commit child sexual abuse on a massive scale. The fact he has been brought back to court and given further jail time for these terrible crimes is thanks to the bravery of the victims in coming forward and sharing their stories. We now hope these individuals receive all the care and support they need to put these horrendous experiences behind them.”

One of the five victims at John Allen's latest trial told the court how heroin "helped him forget" the abuse he suffered at the hands of the former children's care home boss.

The victim impact statements of all five were read out at Mold Crown Court, as Allen was sentenced to serve 14 1/2 years in prison, having been found guilty of eight counts of historic child abuse against the boys, who were now all middle aged.

Although none of the victims can be named for legal reasons, the statements read out in court reveal the long standing impact of the abuse suffered at the hands of Allen. The victim of the count of attempted buggery and one of sexual assault said that he tried to avoid Allen "as much as possible" but how that was often impossible.

He said: "The only option I had was to run away.

"It was only later in life that I have come to understand my feelings. I had a hatred and fear of homosexuality and as a result the abuse I suffered, struggled to sleep.

"I never fully recovered from the abuse, which had left me feeling scared, anxious, isolated and hurt."

Another victim, who was subject of two counts of sexual assault, including one incident involved two other, unknown males, told how he left the care system at the age of 16 with the weight of Allen's crimes hanging very heavily on his shoulders. He added that he turned to heroin, which helped him to forget, saying how it "made it disappear for a while".

He said: "The memories come flooding back when I'm not taking heroin.

"I wish I would have stayed at home and taken the beatings, because it would have been better than what John Allen did to me."

Another victim spoke of the "profound effect" Allen's abuse had had and that he would have to carry the burden of it around with him for the rest of his life.

He added: "The abuse ripped my life apart."

A fourth victim spoke of how Allen had threatened him to move him "even further away from home" if he didn't comply with Allen's sick, sexual demands and desires.

He said: "I can honestly say he made me feel dirty and I was terrified of him.

"He should have been caring for me but instead he was only interested in satisfying his own sexual desires."

The fifth and final victim told how he found Allen to be "an intimidating character" when he was a young boy, before later learning of how manipulative he actually was.

He said: "It took me a long time to realise I was being used to satisfy his sexual desires."

The court heard how several of the victims had attempted suicide in the decades since the abuse took place and His Honour Judge Rhys Rowlands said how the lives of all five had been "blighted" by Allen's behaviour.