Peter Esherwood 66

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A Great Yarmouth man has been sentenced to a total of 18 years  - 16 to be served in prison and two years to be served on licence for historic sex offences against three children.

Peter Esherwood, 66, of Harfreys Road, Great Yarmouth, appeared at Norwich Crown Court today (12 July 2024) where he was sentenced for four counts of indecent assault, two counts of gross indecency with a child, one of sexual assault of a child and one count of inciting a child to take part in a sexual activity and failing to surrender. He previously pleaded not guilty but changed his plea to guilty during sentencing.

The court heard that in September 2017 a woman disclosed sexual abuse by Esherwood when she was a child to another adult and police were contacted. Following an investigation by officers, two further victims of Esherwood came forward and spoke to police about being sexually abused by him when they were young girls.

Esherwood’s offending relates to three female victims from the late 1980s to the 2000s.

DS Ricki Peake said outside the court hearing that Esherwood had to be tried and convicted in his absence after selling his house, liquidising his assets and fleeing to Thailand after being charged for the offences while on bail awaiting trial in October 2022. Following conviction, Norfolk police and the CPS worked closely with Interpol and Thai authorities and he was subsequently arrested re-entering the country via Heathrow Airport in April 2024 and remanded for sentencing.

The victims’ statements were read out at court:

Describing panic attacks and depression which resulted in her losing her career, one of his victim’s states, ‘I will never forgive him for what he put me my family through’.

A second victim said she was physically and mentally exhausted and had suffered panic attacks and blocked out memories of her childhood as a result of his abuse.

A third victim said in her statement: “My innocence was shattered. My self-confidence annihilated. I know that I will never be able to escape my experiences, but I live in the hope, no, the belief, that one day I will find peace.”

DS Ricki Peake said: “The victim-survivors in this case have been incredibly brave coming forward and giving evidence to us. It can be immensely distressing with this type of crime to have to go through past traumatic events. Hopefully the sentencing will go some way to providing justice for what they have endured.”