‘Depraved’ man jailed for 14 years for child sex offences

A CARPENTER who sexually assaulted two school girls in Goole and South Cave has been jailed after a judge said he richly deserved 14 years in prison for his depravity.
John Murden, 58, tried to bribe both of his victims to prevent them telling anyone, but later admitted to police he knew he would eventually be caught.
He claimed in police interview: “You do stupid things when you are drunk.”
Murden, formerly of Goole, pleaded guilty to three charges of indecent assault against one child who was aged under 13. The first offences took place in North Cave and South Cave. He also pleaded guilty to seven further offences to a second girl including assault by penetration and sexual activity with a child. Those offences took place in Goole and Newport.
Murden sat stone faced with his head hung low as details of his offending were read out to Hull Crown Court (Monday March 14).
Crown barrister Charlotte Baines said the offences came to light in October 2015 after the first girl threatened suicide and told her friend she was going to kill herself on the Humber Bridge. The police were called and she was found at Hessle Foreshore and taken for mental health assessment and allowed to go home. At the time she mentioned the allegations of sexual abuse, but did not want to make a complaint. She was eventually encouraged to come forward after a second girl made a complaint.
Mrs Baines said Murden first assaulted a girl when she was eleven when he asked her to take off her clothes and started rubbing her body. He sexually assaulted her. “She described feeling frightened and dirty and did not know what was happening at the time,” said Mrs Baines. “He began to promise her things. He promised to buy her a horse if she did not say anything.”
He went on to commit more serious sexual assaults. She said he asked if he could have sex with her. When she told him he could not she ran away.
Mrs Baines said the second girl was sexually assaulted in Goole and Newport. He made the girl watch pornography. He sexually assaulted her.  “She told him to stop, but he didn’t and  held her down,” said Mrs Baines.
He performed sex acts making out he was playing a game and described one act as a lollipop.
When Murden was initially confronted about the allegations he shook his head and replied: “Oh God.” The court heard he was a heavy drinker. Mrs Baines said: “When asked if any of the allegations had happened, he said they might have done, if he was drunk so he didn’t know. He said: “Alcohol makes you do daft things, doesn’t it when you’re drunk, in fact you don’t know what you are doing sometimes.”
Defence barrister Paul Norton said: “From the moment of his arrest, John Murden has not sort to excuse his crimes. He said on several occasions he was staggered by his own actions.”
Sentencing Judge Jeremy Richardson, QC, told Murden: “You are a depraved man and the culpability for the crimes you have committed is very high. You sort to sexually corrupt each of these two women when they were girls. He said he had left one girl feeling frightened and dirty and she bled “because of his brutality.”
“You promised to buy her things if she did not tell anyone,” continued Judge Richardson. He said he abused the second girl in similar, but more serious ways in one instance grotesquely grabbing at her.
He said the total sentence was 14 years – and it would have been 21 years if he had fought a trial. He said he would be the subject of an extended sentence of a further year on his release.
Ordering Murden to his feet his said: “The total sentence is 14 years. You richly deserve it. You must go to the cells below court to start serving your sentence.”

Murden must sign on the National Sex Offenders’ Register for life.