A PREDATOR has been sentenced to more than a decade in jail for a campaign of sexual abuse against a child.

Martin Falconer came to the attention of Cheshire Police in 2019 when the victim came forward.

She reported to officers that the now-66-year-old had sexually abused her in Runcorn over a number of years.

Falconer sexually assaulted and attempted to rape the victim, while he also had indecent images of her in his possession on his laptop.

Following an investigation, Falconer was charged with sex offences and was later found guilty following a trial in June.

He was convicted of five counts of sexual activity with a child, attempted rape, sexual assault, and possession of indecent images of children.

Appearing back before Chester Crown Court recently, Falconer, of Spennymoor Court, was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

On top of his custodial sentence, he was also ordered to sign the sex offender and was handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for life.

He was also handed a restraining order prohibiting him from contacting the victim.

The sentence was welcomed by DS Lee Ellis, who said: “Firstly, I would like to commend the bravery of the victim in this case.

“I hope the conclusion of this lengthy investigation and subsequent court process will help to bring her some closure.

“Falconer was relentless in his abuse, targeting a young girl purely for his own twisted sexual gratification.

“Not only that, but he refused to take responsibility for his horrific actions, putting the victim through further distress.

“Thankfully, he will no longer be able to inflict this behaviour on anyone else and is behind bars for a considerable length of time.

“If anyone has been a victim of sexual offences, you can contact Cheshire Police by calling 101 or visiting our website.”