Ex-cricket coach gets six more years for sex abuse

Michael Strange had been convicted on five previous occasions for abusing young cricketers

A former cricket coach and scout has been jailed for six further years after two more victims came forward to say they had been sexually abused.

Michael Strange, 64, had been convicted on five previous occasions for assaulting young cricketers between the 1980s and the 2000s.

The former Durham coach was sentenced via a videolink at Newcastle Crown Court after he admitted three counts of indecent assault on a teenage boy in the 1980s and a single similar offence against a youth in the 1990s.

Judge Christopher Prince said the victims' impact statements were "profoundly moving" and heard how their ordeals had greatly affected their personal and professional lives.

Strange coached the first victim at a Tyneside cricket club and invited him back to his home where he abused him on three separate occasions.

The victim gave up the sport, despite showing promise, and buried the abuse he suffered until he read media reports about Strange's previous offending, the court heard.

Strange indecently assaulted his other victim in a changing room after the boy was accidentally struck by a ball in the groin during a coaching session.

'Scratched the surface'

The first victim said his aim was to "expose" Strange and that he believed there were "many more" victims.

"I feel like the convictions [to date] have only scratched the surface of Michael Strange's offending," he said in his statement, which was read by prosecutor Rachel Glover.

Strange's offending is the subject of an ongoing review by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) which began in the summer of 2023.

The second victim, whom Strange had invited to attend a coaching course, said: "I went all out to impress Michael Strange but he took advantage of me for his own sexual gain."

Judge Prince said the latest victims brought the number abused by Strange to 10.

'Predatory paedophile'

The judge said that on each occasion the defendant had been convicted, it was because victims had come forward rather than because he had confessed.

He said: "It has to be said, there is no real expression of remorse that I can see."

Ian Hudson, defending, said the best mitigation was Strange's guilty pleas.

After the sentencing, Claire Wright, of the CPS North East's Rape and Serious Sexual Assault Unit, said Strange was a "dangerous sexual predator" who gave little thought for the "hugely damaging impact of his actions".

Det Con Lisa Herron, of Northumbria Police, said Strange's actions were "unforgiveable".

"Michael Strange is a predatory paedophile who preyed on young boys throughout his cricket career where he was widely praised and respected," she added.