A man convicted of indecently assaulting two women at a mid-Essex sheltered housing unit started a two-year jail sentence on Friday.
Gordon Cridland, 60, of The Ridge, Little Baddow, had denied but was convicted by a Chelmsford Crown Court jury last month of twice indecently assaulting one woman and one similar offence against another woman.
Judge Christopher Ball QC told Cridland that by denying the serious offences he had put vulnerable victims through the ordeal of giving evidence in court.
Cridland had been cleared or raping one woman and the judge directed the jury to clear him of a second charge of rape.
During the trial the court heard that both victims had learning difficulties and the matters came to light after one of them spoke about it to another woman at the unit. The incidents took place between April 2001 and May last year.
Lynne Jenkins mitigating said Cridland continued to claim the indecent assaults had not taken place.
Ms Jenkins said: "This has had a devastating effect on him and his family. His life is in tatters."
Published Monday, June 23, 2003
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