Last updated at 12:48, Wednesday, 21 July 2010

A man who has previously served a nine-year jail term for raping two schoolgirls has admitted a violent sex assault on a woman in Carlisle.

Thomas McEllin

Thomas Peter McEllin, 62, of Baird Road, Harraby, was originally accused of using a hammer in an horrific sex attack on the woman.

At an earlier court appearance he denied sexually assaulting her, causing her to engage in sexual activity against her will and wounding her with the hammer with intent to do her grievous bodily harm.

But at Carlisle Crown Court, he pleaded guilty only to charges of sexual assault and unlawful wounding.

After entering his pleas, the court heard how McEllin already has several previous convictions for violence – including rapes.

In 2000 he was given a nine year jail term for raping two schoolgirls.

In that year, a court in Bolton heard how he had repeatedly raped his victims over an 11 year period. One of his victims became pregnant.

After that hearing, there were shouts of relief from the public gallery of the court when he was led away to start his sentence.

Several female relatives of the victims had sobbed quietly throughout the 30-minute hearing.

McEllin, a father of seven children who previously lived in Lancashire, had admitted specimen rape charges against each of two victims between 1974 to 1985.

He was told he would have to tell police his name, address and movements for the rest of his life.

The circumstances of his later move to Carlisle have not yet been made clear.

When he was first confronted by the original rape allegations in 2000, he described the claims as “poppycock.”

When told that his victims had been frightened by him, McEllin said he was “the softest man in Bolton.”

A persistent offender throughout his adult life, he had also been convicted of an indecent assault when he was just 17.

His defence lawyer told the hearing in 2000 that McEllin himself had been repeatedly abused as a child when in care.

He said that the defendant had lived a lonely and solitary life either on the streets of Blackpool or at a hostel and had been an alcoholic since the age of 17.

The judge in the case, Judge John Morris, decided to extend McEllin’s period of licence at the end of his sentence for an extra three years because he could not be sure whether or not he would reoffend.

In court this week, the judge remanded McEllin in custody for background reports and said he would be sentenced for his latest offences on September 3.

The judge warned him that his latest offences will lead to a prison sentence for “a considerable period.”

First published at 12:41, Wednesday, 21 July 2010
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk