Knottfield abuse: Joseph Marshall guilty of sexually abusing boys

The trial of Joseph Marshall took place at Douglas Courthouse

A former senior staff member at an Isle of Man children's home has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two boys there in the 1970s.

Joseph Marshall, now 85, was charged with abusing three boys aged under 16 at Knottfield in Douglas between 1974 and 1982.

A Douglas Courthouse jury found him guilty of three counts of indecent assault and two other sexual offences.

Marshall was acquitted on charges relating to the third boy.

The five-day trial had been told the boys were sexually assaulted by him during baths and in his office behind a locked door.

Two of those who Marshall abused gave evidence to the court.

'Mercy sadly lacking'

The first said he was touched after being taken into the office to be told off by Marshall on one occasion when he was about 13.

He said he was subsequently called into the office several more times over the next two years.

He said Marshall committed acts of gross indecency against him during the period, telling him it would be "our little secret".

A second witness, who was not a resident at the home but spent time there, said he had been inappropriately touched by Marshall at about the age of seven or eight when he had been called into the office for misbehaving.

A written statement from a third witness, who died before proceedings began, was also read to the court.

Following a three-hour deliberation, the jury delivered its verdicts, finding Marshall guilty of three indecent assaults and two counts of gross indecency against two boys, while clearing him of three indecent assaults and another serious sexual assault against the third boy.

Deemster Bernard Richmond QC then told the court Marshall had previous convictions for abusing boys at Knottfield and had been jailed for three years in 1992 for 13 offences of indecent assault.

Adjourning sentencing, Deemster Richmond said he wanted medical reports to "consider the quality of life he'll have where he is sent".

That was a "matter of mercy sadly lacking in him when he committed the offences", he added.

Marshall will next appear at Douglas Courthouse on 17 January.

Speaking after the hearing, an Isle of Man Constabulary spokesman said the force wanted to acknowledge "the courage shown by each of the complainants involved in this trial".