A JURY has found a man guilty of attempting to murder a 10-year-old boy by throwing him off a clifftop in Brighton after he was caught sexually abusing a young girl.
Anthony Stocks, of Iceni Close, Goring, was found guilty after a trial at Oxford Crown Court today (June 6) of attempting to murder the boy after he tried to intervene with Stocks assaulting an underage girl.
The 54-year-old wanted to ‘marry’ the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and had sexually assaulted her on several occasions in the early 2020s.
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It was heard that the boy, who also cannot be named for legal reasons, tried to stop the assaults, resulting in Stocks trying to kill the boy.
Stocks was also found guilty of four counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, one charge of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, and one count of rape of a child on at least three occasions.
He made no reaction as the verdicts were read as was given permission to remain seated.
During the trial, it was heard that the defendant had groomed the girl, making her dependent on him, across several years in East Oxfordshire while he was working as a movie extra on several films.
The girl then confided in the boy after the assaults, and ‘was scared’.
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Stocks became aware that the boy knew about the assaults and had planned to ‘disrupt it’.
On September 24, 2022, Stocks took the boy to Ovingdean, Brighton after previously contemplating pushing him off a cliff at a quarry in Chinnor several weeks earlier.
The boy he couldn’t remember if he was pushed or fell but he ‘would like to find out’.
A witness states they saw a ‘small shape fall as if thrown from the cliff’, followed by ‘a shriek’.
Passers-by called the emergency services and the boy was airlifted to St George’s Hospital in London.
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The boy suffered from several fractures including to his head and arm, a deformity to his neck and a laceration of his spleen and kidney.
When interviewed by police, the girl said Stocks had admitted he was going to push the boy off the cliff ‘as he wanted to get rid of him’.
Stocks, who had denied all the charges, will now be sentenced at the same court at a later date which has yet to be set. The court heard it is likely to be at the end of July.
Judge Nigel Daly thanked the jury for their service and told them they would not have to serve on a jury again if they did not wish to.
Stocks will remain in custody until his sentencing. Judge Daly was concerned about how the defendant would take the news and urged dock officers to keep a close eye on him.
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