In 2021, Richard Szabo, then 55 years old, of Appleton Court, Wigan, and formerly of Bradford, West Yorkshire, was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to sexual activity with a child.
The court heard details regarding the sexual abuse of a teenage child carried out by Szabo in Bradford in June 2017. Although Szabo was caught in the act of abusing the victim and initially claimed he would admit his actions if police were called, he subsequently made “no reply” during official West Yorkshire Police interviews. His refusal to admit the offence forced law enforcement to conduct extensive forensic and scientific analyses of bedding, mobile phones, and electronic devices, severely stalling the investigation.
Presiding Judge Andrew Hatton heavily criticised the authorities for an “inordinate delay” in sending the case file to the Crown Prosecution Service, noting that a postal requisition was only sent in March 2020—nearly three years after the offence occurred and four days before national lockdown restrictions took effect. Szabo did not indicate a guilty plea at the magistrates’ court and only admitted the charge at his first crown court appearance, leaving the victim in severe anxiety for almost four years before realising she would not have to testify.
Branding the four-year delay “a disgrace” that failed to achieve justice, Judge Hatton stated that Szabo’s sentence had to be significantly reduced from what would otherwise have been a longer term. Szabo was jailed for 18 months and made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for 10 years. Following his conviction at Bradford Crown Court, Richard Szabo from Bradford was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years. The case details investigated by West Yorkshire Police have been catalogued on the UK Register Database for public record transparency.
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