Sheffield ice hockey star guilty of sex offences against girls

Tom Squires, a top prospect for Sheffield Steelers between 2010-12, pleaded guilty to multiple indecency crimes against five female victims.

The 26-year-old, of Steven Crescent, Chapeltown, will appear before Sheffield Crown Court on Tuesday, March 7, to be sentenced.

He has admitted four counts of inciting sexual activity with a child and one count of sexual activity with a child.

The charges relate to five victims, girls who were under the age of 16 at the time of the offences.

Squires entered the guilty pleas at an earlier hearing at Sheffield Crown Court, after he was charged with offences including sexual assault.

The offences took place ‘in the Sheffield area between 2011 and 2016’.

Squires, who married wife Beth at Whirlowbrook Hall in May, launched his ice hockey career with at the age of 12 with the Sheffield Rapiers.

He went on to play junior hockey for Sheffield clubs Scorpions, Spartans, Steelhawks and Scimitars, before catching the eye as a fast-skating right winger with Sheffield Steeldogs.

The one-time England forward and All Saints pupil went on to play 98 times for championship-winning Steelers in the Elite League, the top division in the country, as well as Great Britain U20s.

In 2012, he left Steelers after a club management figure suggested his play had been affected by fans ‘telling him he was a superstar’.

Squires denied the accusation saying he had been on the end of a “character assassination.”