Gary Gilleney jailed for six years for sexual assault of children

Gary Gilleney

Gary Gilleney, of  Brimrod, has been jailed for six years after admitting six sex assaults against “vulnerable children”, one just seven years old.

Gilleney abused two “highly vulnerable” children when he was living in Manchester in the 1990s - he was arrested when the offences came to light last year.

Manchester Crown Court heard that one of the victims was just seven years old when she was abused by Gilleney.

In a statement the victim told the court: “He used to threaten me that if I ever reported the abuse and he went down, he would come and get me after he was released. As a child I believed it and I was frightened.

“I couldn’t sleep at nights. I have no self-esteem. It’s affected my relationships since becoming an adult. I’m shy of my own body and suffer from flashbacks.

The second victim came forward last year and was 13-years-old when she was plied with cannabis and molested by Gilleney.

Gilleney’s defence barrister said he had been “damaged by his own childhood” and told the court: “He is genuinely confused and remorseful about what he has done. It’s not a remorse that comes in floods of tears, but there will follow, one hopes, a period of reflection and introspection.

“This is an unsophisticated person, prone to urges he neither understands nor can control. It may be easy to suggest he is simply an evil man and it may be there’s some truth in that, but it’s more complex than that.”

Gilleney had a previous conviction having first abused a young girl in London in 1985. At the time he was ordered to pay a £100 fine for offences of indecent assault and gross misconduct and was dishonourably discharged from the Army.