Wayne Duggan

Wayne Duggan, a 40-year-old from Marton Road, Middlesbrough, was sentenced at Teesside Crown Court for sexually assaulting a child under 13. The pervert hid in bushes after smoking cannabis, waiting for an opportunity to strike, before luring the primary school youngster into the bushes on Teesside last year. He forced the child to sit on his knee before carrying out a sickening sexual assault, then let them go. Traces of DNA were found on the child’s clothing, confirming the abuse.

Shaun Dodds, prosecuting, detailed how the child told police a man dragged them into a bush, made them sit on his knee, put them on the floor, and carried out a sex act. Paul Newcombe, mitigating, mentioned Duggan's learning difficulties and schizophrenia diagnosis, along with mental health struggles. Judge Geoffrey Marson KC called Duggan a ‘parent’s worst nightmare’ and jailed him for five years. A further charge of kidnap was allowed to lie on the court files.

Duggan pleaded guilty to the sexual assault and was required to sign on the sex offenders’ register for life, made subject to a sexual harm prevention order, and an indefinite restraining order to protect the victim.