Telangana News

Found guilty of child sex offences, a 101-year-old man, thought to be the oldest person convicted in British legal history, was taken into police custody.

According to the Jurors, Ralph Clarke from Erdington, Birmingham, is guilty of 21 counts of abusing two girls in the 1970s and 80s. He admitted to nine charges relating to a young boy part-way through his trial at Birmingham Crown Court. Clarke told police he was "immune to feelings", the court heard.

Saying that, Clarke needed to "ponder with care", Judge Richard Bond further added, "The reality is that he's so old it's unlikely he'll be released back into the community."

Detective Con Emma Fennon from West Midlands Police's historical sexual offences team described the crimes as "horrific offences" and said Clarke showed no remorse.

When questioned on the merits of taking a 101-year-old man to court, she said: "The day that not prosecuting someone who hurts a child is not in the public interest, we may as well all pack up and go home."

She further added that Clarke's age was "no defence to what he has done". She said: "The nature of what he did to his victims has robbed them of their childhood." Claire Nicholls from the West Midlands Crown Prosecution Service said for more than 40 years "Clarke thought he'd got away with his crimes".

"However, due to the courage of the victims we were able to bring this defendant to justice," she said. 

Clarke's victims reported the offences to West Midlands Police in August last year after seeing the FB posts related to him, celebrating 100th birthday.