I was groomed by ex-fire chief from moment I met him, says victim

A woman who was a teenager when she was indecently assaulted by Northern Ireland's former chief fire officer has said she was groomed by him from the moment she met him.

Nikella Holmes has waived her right to anonymity to speak out about the crimes of Gary Thompson, who was jailed for eight months after admitting two counts of indecent assault.

Thompson, 56, of Rogan Wood in Newtownabbey was sentenced at Belfast Crown Court on Thursday.

The judge said Ms Holmes had shown "courage and persistence" throughout the legal process and had been "exploited and subjected to serious offending".

The court was told that the offending took place over four months in 2006. At the time, Ms Holmes, who is from Ballymena in County Antrim, was 15 years old and he was 38.

"People really need to understand that predators can be people we like," she told BBC News.

"They can be people we respect. They can be people that we least expect."

She described how Thompson abused her when he was her church youth leader in 2006.

The court was told text messages between the two started as "playful" but soon became "flirtatious and sexualised".

It was heard Thompson would pick Ms Holmes up from her family home in the early hours of the morning after she snuck out and take her to "secluded areas".

They would then engage in "sexual contact" which included intimate kissing and the touching of legs, breasts and the vaginal area over clothes.

During sentencing, the judge said Thompson would also undergo 15 months of supervision upon his release and a Sexual Offences Prevention Order would be in place for five years.

The two counts Thompson has pleaded guilty to have been referred to as "specimen counts".

Specimen counts are used when a person is accused of similar offences.

Gary Thompson, 56, was sentenced at Belfast Crown Court

Now 33 years old, Ms Holmes said Thompson would tell her to "repent" for their "joint sin".

"He would text and say that shouldn't have happened, that sin is sin, no matter how big it is and who's done it and we both needed to repent for what we'd done.

"It was always the situation of - 'that happened, but it can't happen again'.

"Except it did happen again.

"We did agree not to tell anyone. He said if I went back on that and did tell someone, that he would deny it and people would believe him."

'He told me my school uniform was attractive'

One evening, Ms Holmes said Thompson approached her inside their church building.

She'd come straight from school and was wearing her uniform. Thompson then sent messages that he found her attractive in her uniform.

"He tried to put me on his knee. I was terrified.

"He then put me on the desk. He was standing there touching my legs and I could see other youth members through the glass in the doors to the foyer and I was just terrified.

"I asked him to stop and I had to push him off me, and that night was a real turning point for me.

"I asked him not to talk to me outside of church because I needed it to stop.

"We still saw each other two or three times a week through church activities.

"At that age, having to pretend like none of that had happened, and just go on as normal, it was too much."

Gary Thompson was Chief Fire and Rescue Officer in 2016, and was suspended in 2018

'Only cuddling and kissing'

Ms Holmes made the decision to report the assaults to police in 2018 after finding out that Gary Thompson was in a senior position in a different church.

She said that decision cost her friendships and her Christian faith.

"It's impacted every part of my life," she said.

"Not everyone was particularly happy with me reporting to police what had happened. I've lost a lot.

"I just don't have a faith at all now."

She said: "Just because I wasn't forced, because there wasn't violence, does not mean I gave consent. It was still abuse."

Ms Holmes said she reported Thompson because of his position in the fire service and in church to "protect other people".

"It's been a very long, very difficult journey and if I had been doing it just for myself I wouldn't have gotten this far."

'A sanctuary for predators'

Ms Holmes said she is "confident" Thompson has other victims.

"In hindsight I can see the grooming started the moment I met him, and I don't believe someone does that once off so yes, I believe he has more victims," she said.

Ms Holmes legal case has been plagued with delays and it has taken six years to see Thompson sentenced.

"When he admitted to the abuse it was just such a relief that I was vindicated and that I was now legally classed as his victim," she said.

Ms Holmes said she hoped sharing her story would help churches be more open about the issue of sexual abuse.

"Churches can be a sanctuary for a lot of people but it also becomes a sanctuary for predators," she said.

"It allows people to use forgiveness and grace to prey on people and abuse them and I believe that's exactly what Gary Thompson did."

'It is abuse'

"If this is happening to you, it is abuse," she said.

"If someone so much older than you is taking advantage of you and you have to keep that secret, if you're not able to tell anyone, something is not right.

"If coming forward is something you want to do, please do it.

"If I had understood at the time that Gary Thompson was a predator, that a predator can look like that, that I could have feelings for them, that that's what they could be, the chances are that wouldn't have happened.

"We're very good at stranger danger, we're not so good about having the conversations about people close to us and what that can look like."

Victory Praise Church, where Thompson was a youth leader in 2006, said he had not attended in almost two decades

"We have been careful to ensure appropriate safeguarding measures are in place," a spokesperson said.

"As a church, we are saddened by this news and our thoughts and prayers are with Nikella."

During police interview, Thompson said he had a drinking problem and personal issues at the time of his offending and claimed he believed Ms Holmes was 17-years-old.

He also claimed "only cuddling and kissing" had taken place.

But the court was told that recently, Thompson had accepted he "groomed his victim" and abused his position.

The court heard several references from members of Thompson's current church who described him as a changed man who had expressed "guilt, regret and remorse".

Thompson was chief fire and rescue officer in 2016 and was suspended in 2018. He retired in 2020.

The BBC asked the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service about its handling of Thompson's suspension and subsequent retirement.

In response, the organisation said: "Gary Thompson, former chief fire and rescue officer, retired on 14 January 2020. He was placed on precautionary suspension on 10 December 2018 while a PSNI investigation was ongoing.

"We do not comment on individual employee or former employee matters."

Victims commissioner Geraldine Hanna said Ms Holmes' six-year wait for justice was an "atrocious amount of time" and was not good enough.

She also said character references given in court should not carry any weight, and had no relevance for sentencing.

"A person's public persona or credibility or being seeing as an upstanding member of the community, it can in case be used to facilitate or enable abuse.

"We need to make ensure that such references do not have any place in sentencing. because if anything it helps add weight to the abusers' assertions that they can often make to victims that if the person tells, that they won't be believed."

If you have been affected by the issues raised in this story you can visit the BBC Action Line for support.