Richard Bradshaw

Richard Bradshaw, a 69-year-old plumbing and heating engineer from Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, was sentenced at Leicester Crown Court on 10 April 2026 for historical sexual offences committed against a teenage boy while he volunteered as a youth worker.

Bradshaw had previously worked as a volunteer at a youth club based at a Leicestershire school. In this role, he would take groups of boys on overnight trips in a converted library van equipped with bunk beds. To 'break down the barriers', he allowed the boys to smoke and drink during these outings, which the judge later described as grooming behaviour. It was during one such trip, when the victim was 14 years old, that the assaults occurred. The victim woke up to find Bradshaw using his left hand to perform a sex act on himself. On subsequent occasions, the boy awoke to Bradshaw touching his genitals, and once protested by saying 'no'.

The offences came to light nearly 25 years later in 2023, when the victim, now a married father, suffered a nervous breakdown and confided in his wife about the abuse that had haunted him for decades. He subsequently reported the matter to Leicestershire Police. Bradshaw, of Smisby Road, Ashby, admitted three counts of indecent assault on a boy under 16. Charges relating to a second boy from around the same time were dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service after Bradshaw denied them.

Prosecutor John Simmons told the court: 'He used his position to predate upon the victim. The defendant volunteered to give lifts and had a van and would take groups away on trips. It was on those trips the offences occurred.' The victim, present in court, provided a statement outlining the lasting impact: 'The incident has really ruined the relationship with my wife. For over 25 years I tried to bury it and then I had a breakdown and it all came out. I was reliving it in sleep - it was horrible. I still freak out if my wife touches me when I'm asleep.' He described being still 'haunted' by the abuse.

Defence representative Robert Tolhurst argued for a suspended sentence, noting the offences were 25 years old with no further offending since, and that Bradshaw had avoided sexual relationships due to difficulties with his sexuality and felt deep shame. Judge Timothy Spencer KC rejected this, characterising Bradshaw as a 'sad and lonely' man who had kept his 'homosexual predilections for young boys' in check for 25 years but had exploited his youth club role to breach trust. The judge stated: 'You used that as an opportunity to sexually exploit the victim. This was not a one-off. There was a serious breach of trust. You allowed the boys to drink in the van and that, I'm sure, was part of breaking down the barriers. You were grooming him for this activity.'

Bradshaw was jailed for three years and two months and made subject to an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order. Leicestershire Police noted that no custody image was available as Bradshaw had voluntarily attended an interview.