Man jailed for historic child sex offences

A man has been jailed for historic child sex offences in the 1980s after we launched an investigation into him.

Ian Tomkinson, aged 54, of Leek, was reported to us in 2021 when the survivors bravely came forward and told us what happened.

He was questioned by officers in November 2021. We started work to gather evidence of his crimes and later secured a charge for the offences in the same month.  

Following a week-long trial, Tomkinson was sentenced to 10-months’ imprisonment at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on Wednesday (17 January) for two counts of indecent assault on a child.

Sergeant Daniel Martin, from our Rape and Serious Sexual Offences team (RASSO) said: “Through the sheer bravery of the survivors coming forward, we were able to compile evidence of Tomkinson’s crimes, more than 40 years ago, and secure the conviction.

“I’d like to commend them for their support of this investigation and for telling us what happened. I hope this serves as a message to any survivors that they will be heard and listened to by officers who are passionate about delivering justice.

“No matter how recent the offences may be, victims will always be our priority.”

If you are a survivor, you can get in touch with specialist officers by calling 101 or messaging us using Live Chat on our website.

If you want to report anonymously, you can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.