Hayling man jailed after having sex with girl, 14, who he had groomed

The 22-year-old had denied sexual activity with a child but a jury convicted him after a trial.

The court heard Fairbrother had denied knowing the girl was 14.

Judge Roger Hetherington said Fairbrother now showed remorse but had forced the young girl he groomed to undergo a trial by denying his guilt.

He sentenced Fairbrother to three years in prison.

Judge Hetherington said: ‘You were some seven-and-a-half years older than her.

‘There was an element of pressure that you exerted over her.’

He added Fairbrother had threatened to stop speaking to the girl.

‘It was in those circumstances that she went round to your house,’ Judge Hetherington added. ‘In due course you had sexual intercourse there.’

The court heard that prior to this taking place Fairbrother was warned to stay away.

Judge Hetherington said: ‘You carried on regardless of all that.

‘There was here an element of applying pressure, which perhaps could be described almost as grooming.

‘The law in this area, it’s designed to protect young girls as much as anything from themselves and people like you, particularly when they are considerably older.

‘She will have suffered quite a bit.’

Fairbrother, of Blackthorn Drive, Hayling Island, was convicted of one charge of engaging in sexual activity with a girl 13 to 15 in August 2013.

The victim cannot be identified for legal reasons.

Stephen Clayton, defending, said: ‘This defendant was of hitherto exemplary character. He is young, 21 at the time of the offence, and immature for his 
age.

‘This immaturity, his lack of self-confidence and depression that he was undergoing at the time, played, in my submission, a significant part in the offending.

‘He had recently broken up with his partner, he was out of work.

‘His relationship with his mother had broken down which had caused him to have to move out.’

He added: ‘While there was seemingly a degree of grooming it was not of the most evil kind.’

He said Fairbrother had no father figure in his life to talk to about his feelings.

Fairbrother has to sign the sex offenders’ register and have notification requirements for his entire life.