Paedophile who groomed young boys jailed

Andrew Thomson was jailed for 24 years

A paedophile has been jailed after perpetrating serious sexual offences against a six-year-old boy and an eight-year-old boy.

Andrew Thomson groomed the two young victims in the Accrington area, attempted to rape them and carried out multiple sexual assaults against them, Lancashire Police said.

When the 53-year-old was arrested, two previous victims came forward to say they had also been sexually assaulted when they were between eight and 10 years old, the force said, having been befriended by Thomson when he was in his late teens/early 20s and they were still at school.

Thomson, of Bawdlands, Clitheroe, was jailed for 24 years at Burnley Crown Court after admitting child sexual offences.

'Manipulative sexual deviant'

He had earlier pleaded guilty to the attempted rape of a child under 13, causing/inciting a boy under 13 to engage in sexual activity, and engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

Thomson had forced the victims to watch him perform lewd acts on himself, telling them not to tell anyone about what he was doing "or it will be bad luck in life", police said.

Det Con Hannah Blundel said: "Thomson is a manipulative sexual deviant who carried out unspeakable sexual crimes against two vulnerable boys.

"This is some of the worst sexual offending I have seen in my career and I welcome the significant sentence Thomson has received, which reflects the very real danger he poses to all male children.

"I want to praise the victims for their bravery in coming forward, though they may not fully understand what happened to them or why."