Terminally-ill sex-offender walks free from court after he exposed himself to two Sheffield schoolgirls

Sheffield Crown Court heard on March 7 how Stanley Atkinson, aged 59, exposed himself to two schoolgirls while they were waiting for a bus on Farm Road, Sheffield, before ejaculating over one of the youngster’s legs.

Prosecuting barrister Ian West told the court the 14-year-old schoolgirl had been with a friend at the time.

Mr West said: “Both girls looked at the defendant and saw that he had his penis exposed and he was masturbating. They were horrified by what they saw.”

Following improved forensic techniques, the case was reviewed in 2019 and a DNA match taken from the 14-year-old girl’s tights produced a positive link to Atkinson, according to Mr West.

The court heard Atkinson, of Desmond Court, Nottingham, has multiple previous convictions for indecent assault and indecent exposure and he has previously been released from a life sentence which had been imposed in 2002 for wounding with intent and an indecent assault.

The defendant pleaded guilty to the indecent assault concerning the 14-year-old girl as well as to outraging pubic decency concerning both girls from November 10, 1994.

Mr West said Atkinson claimed he had no recollection of the offences because at the time he had been drinking heavily and taking drugs.

Atkinson’s 14-year-old victim told the court she had been a strong, independent girl but after that day she was never the same again because her confidence, her education and her aspirations to become a nurse collapsed.

She told Atkinson: “I really hope that by standing in this court room in front of you, you may get a glimpse of how your actions affected your victims.”

The complainant said: “So I stand here today a former shell of myself – not a 14-year-old girl – a grown woman.

“I need to show to you that today I let go of the past and look to the future.”

She added: “I will no longer call myself a victim. I am a warrior and like a phoenix I will rise again.”

The other complainant also said she had lived in fear Atkinson would strike again and that she has had to live every day with the memories.

Dermot Hughes, defending, said Atkinson has terminal blood cancer which affects his bones and he has been undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Atkinson acknowledged he was a “nasty man” back then, according to Mr Hughes, and the defendant apologised and said that even though he cannot recall the offending he accepts the DNA match and that he must have committed the offence.

Mr Hughes said: “The man in front of you is a very different man from the man in 1994 and he is a different man from the man who received a life sentence in 2002.

“To say he regrets what happened is an understatement.”

Judge Rachael Harrison told Atkinson: “You approached her and her friend – no doubt interested in the fact they were there in their school uniforms.”

She sentenced Atkinson to two years of custody suspended for 18 months with a Rehabilitation Activity Requirement and a six-month curfew.