9:28am Tuesday 30th September 2008
By Steve Wright
A married father who groomed teenage girls for his sexual gratification was branded “depraved and wicked” by a judge.
Recruitment consultant Philip Davey was found guilty by a jury yesterday on a string of rapes and sexual assaults on three girls after a nine-day trial at Bradford Crown Court.
Judge Jonathan Rose told 44-year-old Davey: “You have attempted to portray yourself as a respectable, decent man. The jury has seen straight through that veneer of respectability.”
He adjourned sentencing for probation and psychiatric reports but warned Davey, of Denbrook Avenue, Tong Street, Bradford: “You should prepare yourself for a very lengthy period in prison.”
He said the only questions remaining were how long that sentence would be and whether it would be necessary to impose an indeterminate sentence for the protection of the public.
Davey was unanimously convicted of six charges of rape and two of sexual assault on one girl; two rape charges, by a majority verdict of 11-1, on the second girl; and three offences of sexual assault, one of attempted rape and one of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent involving the third victim.
Davey, who was remanded in custody until sentencing, was cleared of a further charge of attempted rape and one of indecent assault.
The trial heard Davey’s first victim was 16 when he first assaulted her. The abuse went on for two years and he used threats to make her keep quiet about it.
The other victims, who were 15 and 16 at the time, had developed a crush on him and he abused that to groom them for his sexual gratification.
The court heard he plied one of the girls with vodka and sent nude images of himself to their mobile phones.
The father-of-one told the jury he was not aware of any of the girls fancying him and denied having sexual contact with any of them.
After the verdicts one parent said he was relieved but added: “There are no winners. He has destroyed a lot of lives, especially those of the children.
“The trial has been horrendous and has brought us to tears on many occasions.
“I am still in a state of disbelief. You don’t imagine anyone doing this to your children. Our daughter was too scared to talk to us.
“The sentence doesn’t come into it. The children are safe now and by going to prison nobody else is going to be affected by him.”
Detective Inspector Dick Nuttall, of the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team at West Yorkshire Police, said he was delighted for the victims with the guilty verdicts.
He said: “They have shown great courage in coming to court to give their evidence and I am very pleased West Yorkshire Police has been able to help them bring this man to justice.
“I hope the verdicts sets these girls on the first steps to putting this behind them and getting on with their lives.”
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