Dennis Walsh 44

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A SEX fiend who offered a seven-year-old boy 20p before dragging him into a supermarkets toilets and sexually assaulting him has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years.

And after hearing the sickening details of how 39-year-old Dennis Walsh abused the boy in a cubicle at Sainsburys in Burnley last November, Judge Sara Dodd deemed him to be a dangerous offender.

That means he will be subject to an extended licence of seven years once he is released from prison.

Burnley Crown Court heard the boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had gone to use the male toilet while his stepmother took his sister into the female toilets.

The boys stepmother and sister came out a few minutes later and waited for him. After checking with the boys father to see if he was at the till with him, his stepmother opened the mens toilet door and shouted for him.

Amanda Johnson, prosecuting, said the victims stepmother noticed one of the cubicles was occupied and the boy shouted he was inside. Roughly five minutes later he came out and the family left.

Ms Johnson said: The boy was very quiet after that and reported he was nearly kidnapped. He said a man grabbed his arm and did not let go.

The court heard the family took him to a police station to report the incident.

Ms Johnson said on the way to the station he revealed Walsh had inappropriately touched him.

She added: The man offered to give the boy 20p, took hold of his arm and pulled him into the cubicle where he then pulled his pants and underpants down.

The boy asked the man if he could go and he said not yet.

At that point was when the mens toilets was opened and his stepmother shouted through.

The boy was instructed not to tell anyone.

She said following the attack, the boy would not go to sleep and started wearing boxing gloves in bed. He also wore a family members motorcycle helmet and would only go to bed fully dressed.

In the aftermath of the attack, police released an appeal, in a bid to identify the man responsible, and Walshs mother saw it.

She confronted her son and told him to hand himself in.

Walsh went to a police station the following day.

In his police interview Walsh denied he had sexually assaulted the boy and said he went into the cubicle to change an incontinence pad.

But Walshs DNA was found on the waistband of the boys underpants.

Walsh, of Albert Street, Burnley, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a child.

The court heard by committing his latest offence Walsh had breached a a 16-month suspended sentence order he had received for sexually assaulting a child in February 2017.

Nicholas Clarke, defending, said Walsh has learning difficulties and there was little in a pre-sentence report to indicate Walsh knew what he did was wrong.

He said: There is no question this is a prison sentence and a prison sentence of some length.

As part of his suspended sentence he successfully completed a sexual offender treatment programme.

It is hoped on his behalf hes not going to trouble the courts in the future.

If he commits further offences he will be ostracised by his family.

Judge Dodd said the victim had changed and had anger in him since the incident.

She said: Hes fallen behind at school. He refuses to get changed during a sporting activity and the pressure in doing so caused him to have a panic attack.

He doesnt want to go to his fathers as he thinks it will happen again.

I have no doubt there is possibly a significant risk you will commit further sexual offences and by doing so you will cause serious physical and psychological harm, in this case to children.