In September 2014, the Offender Database reported that John Ford, then 47, and Nicola Mason, then 24, of Cusur Bach, Rhydwyn, Holyhead, were convicted at Mold Crown Court for the predatory sexual exploitation of a 15-year-old boy. The couple, who previously lived in Rhyl, Denbighshire, used drugs and psychological pressure to involve the child in their sex lives.
The court heard that Ford, a taxi driver and second-hand shop owner, was a “controlling individual” who derived perverted pleasure from offering his partner to others. Between May and June 2013, at their former home in Eastville Avenue, Rhyl, the couple provided the victim with cannabis and M-CAT. On one occasion, Mason, a former chip shop worker, performed a sex act in front of the boy. Ford eventually pressured the 15-year-old into having sex with Mason while he watched, causing the boy to lose his virginity under duress.
During the trial, both defendants denied the charges, but were convicted by majority verdicts. Judge Rhys Rowlands described Ford as the primary instigator and noted that while Mason was under Ford’s influence, she was “quite prepared to go along with his depravity.” The prosecution emphasised that the pair took advantage of a vulnerable teenager, fundamentally damaging his development through their “depraved” conduct.
In October 2014, John Ford was sentenced to 4.5 years’ imprisonment. Nicola Mason, who was pregnant with Ford’s second child at the time of the trial, was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. The judge remarked that an immediate custodial sentence was “inevitable” given the nature of the exploitation and the use of illegal drugs to facilitate the abuse.
As a result of their convictions for sexual activity with a child and inciting sexual activity, both Ford and Mason have been placed on the Sex Offenders Register. Ford remains on the register for life, while Mason was placed on it for a period of ten years. They are managed under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) in North Wales. This ensures that North Wales Police and the National Probation Service maintain ongoing monitoring of the couple to manage the risk they pose to the public.
WARNING – John Ford is allegedly now living in Oswestry and still on the hunt for young women and men to abuse.
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