Parole possibility for kidnapper

A paedophile who was jailed for life for kidnapping and indecently assaulting a 10-year-old boy will be eligible for parole in six years.

Anthony Valentine, 46, was found guilty on Wednesday of snatching the boy on 11 July last year after he befriended him in an amusement arcade in West Sussex.

But on Friday, Valentine, formerly of Boltro Road, Haywards Heath, was brought back into court where the judge told him that because the minimum sentence recommended was 14 years he could apply for parole in six years.

The boy was taken by Valentine from an arcade in Bognor on to a train to nearby Barnham where he was molested.

After he was convicted the court heard Valentine had previous convictions for attacks on women including stabbing a girl in the head and chest in 1979 leaving her blind in one eye.

Judge Anthony Scott-Gall said Valentine "exceedingly dangerous" and the public needed protecting from him.

Valentine was also disqualified from working with children for life.