Lord handed four year sentence

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DISGRACED former Worcestershire County Council leader George Lord has been jailed for four years after a series of sexual and indecent assaults on teenage girls.

Lord, who was a county councillor for Alvechurch and served Marlbrook on Bromsgrove District Council, was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday (April 3).

The 79-year-old was convicted during a trial in January of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old in the council chamber at Worcestershire County Council in 2010.

He also pleaded guilty to three charges of indecent assault which related to several incidents between September 1977 and September 1979.

Bernard Linnemann, prosecuting, said Lord was a married man in his 40s when he began grooming the girl from the age of 11.

"By the time she was 14 he was telling her she was gorgeous and sensual, using language like that," he added.

The court heard Lord almost crashed his car after he made his victim perform a sex act on him while he was driving on the A38 near the Chateau Impney in Droitwich.

Mr Linnemann said Lord committed 30 indecent assaults on the girl and told her they had 'a special secret relationship' she could not tell others about.

The 2010 incident began according to Mr Linnemann when Lord suggested the teenager look at a plaque, knowing she would have to bend over.

He then touched her between the legs and on the bottom. When the victim complained to her supervisor Lord accused her of lying.

Brett Wilson, defending, asked the judge to take into account Lord’s age when sentencing him and said he had started teaching English and maths to Pakistani and Afghan prisoners up to GCSE level while on remand in prison.

"He was recommended for an MBE but clearly that may not be on the horizon," Mr Wilson added.

Sentencing him, Judge Nigel Godsmark QC said Lord had sexually groomed the girl over several years during the 1970s and took advantage of her for his own sexual gratification.

"As her minister, you should have been her protector, not her abuser," he added.

Lord will spend at least half of his four year sentence in jail and has also signed the sex offenders register for life.

Following the hearing, Diljit Bachada, senior partner at Hollies Solicitors read a statement from Mr Lord outside court which said: "I would like to apologise for any anxiety felt by either of the victims in this case."

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