Jail for extradited sex attacker

Roger Gardener had to be extradited from the Irish Republic

A man wanted by police for six years who was extradited to the UK from the Irish Republic has been jailed for 12 years for sex attacks, theft and arson.

Roger Gardener, 63, from Blackwood, in Caerphilly county, was found guilty at Newport Crown Court of rape and indecent assault of a girl under 14.

He was also convicted of theft and an arson attack on his own home.

The judge sentenced him to eight years for the sex attacks and four years for arson, to be served consecutively.

He was also banned from working with children and ordered to go on the sex offenders register for life.

The court heard how Gardener befriended the girl at a cafe in Fleur-de-Lys, in Caerphilly county, in the 1980s.

He raped her as he set up a disco at the village hall and also got her to take part in a "threesome" with another young girl.

When you befriended her, you exploited her in the most appalling way Judge Roderick Denyer QC

His victim gave evidence for two days in the trial, detailing how he preyed upon by her.

Newport Crown Court heard Gardener was also convicted of plotting with brothers Terry and Steven Williams to burn down his home ahead of being sentenced in September 2000 for three counts of indecent assault on another two young people.

The hearing was told the sentencing judge in the earlier sex abuse case took into account the "arson attack" when he gave Gardener a reduced jail term of 15 months.

Gardner absconded as the police started to investigate the latest charges of rape and indecent assault against him as well as the arson attack.

He failed to turn up in court in June 2001 and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

He was arrested in County Clare in Ireland in October 2006 and fought extradition proceedings for 10 months before being brought back to Wales in August last year.

Judge Roderick Denyer QC said Gardener's crimes were a "particularly bad case".

He said: "Your victim was an extremely vulnerable young girl, her home life was a mess and it is clear that she really had no one to talk to and you befriended her.

I would like to pay tribute to the bravery of the victim in this case in coming to court and giving evidence Det Con Geoff Ford

"When you befriended her, you exploited her in the most appalling way."

Gwent Police Det Con Geoff Ford, whose investigations into Gardener date from the late 1990s, said he was "a manipulative and dangerous person".

He added: "I would like to pay tribute to the bravery of the victim in this case in coming to court and giving evidence."

After the sentencing, Gardener's wife, Margaret, said she stood by her husband.

She said: "I'm supporting my husband and we are going to try and get the outcome he deserves. I don't doubt his innocence."