Doncaster pensioner jailed after sexually abusing child over 14 years

Peter Bircumshaw, formerly from the Balby area of Doncaster, was on trial at Sheffield Crown Court this week charged with 14 counts of sexual assault.

After a trial that lasted a fortnight, yesterday (Tuesday 11 February) Bircumshaw was found guilty of all 14 offences.

He was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

The court heard how Bircumshaw abused his young victim, a girl who cannot be named for legal reasons, over a 14 year period.

In 2018, the victim passed a letter to her family disclosing what had happened to her. A family member reported the abuse to police who launched an investigation and arrested Bircumshaw..

Detective Constable Brian Thompson, of South Yorkshire Police, who led the investigation, said: “I want to commend the strength of Bircumshaw’s victim – now an adult – who, after over a decade of sexual abuse, made the courageous decision to tell her family what she had been subjected to.

“As Bircumshaw refused to admit what he had done, this brave woman had to endure a trial where she was forced to recount traumatic memories before a court.

“This evidence was immensely powerful and included letters and diary entries the victim had written as a child, letters that were never sent until 2018.

“I am pleased Bircumshaw has been found guilty and will now spend a considerable amount of time behind bars, perhaps even the rest of his life. While this can never undo the harm he caused to his victim, I hope she is reassured by the verdict reached by the court and the fact that her abuser is now in prison.

“On a personal note, this case was especially poignant for me as it is my last before retiring from South Yorkshire Police.”

Det Cons Thompson added: “It was an honour and a privilege, in my last act as a serving police officer, to have played my part in helping this brave woman get justice.”