Jersey pensioner jailed in UK for abusing young girls

Monday 25 October 2021

A Jersey pensioner - who previously avoided prison for sexually assaulting a teen who worked in his ice cream van - has been jailed for seven years for separate offences against two girls in the UK.

Geoffery Kevin Welland (78), of St. Martin, was sentenced in Guildford Crown Court on Thursday after he was found guilty of eight sexual offences against two girls aged five and nine between 1967 and 1975 in Farnham and Aldershot.

Louise Andrews from Surrey Police’s Sexual Offences Investigation Team described Welland as having “preyed” on the youngsters, abusing them over a “sustained period” of several years.

The judge said that the abuse was “truly life-changing” for the victims and had “caused severe psychological harm”.

Last week’s sentencing was nearly 18 years to the date that he had appeared in Jersey’s Royal Court, charged with touching the private parts of a 14-year-old who worked in his ice cream van in 1977.

The prosecution had argued that he should be jailed for 12 months, but the court opted to give him 240 hours’ community service and a three-year probation order instead. 

A judgment published at the time explains how the court considered how Welland was himself abused in an orphanage as a child, and had “overcome these problems” in adult life, going on to serve in the Army and build a family.

He was given credit for his guilty plea, and was said to be at “low risk of reoffending”.

While the Royal Court observed that those who abuse children or adolescents must “almost invariably expect a prison sentence to reflect society’s abhorrence of such offences”, it said that it was persuaded that this was an “exceptional case” and would instead impose the “maximum” possible non-custodial sentence.

Speaking of the seven-year sentence handed down in Guildford Crown Court this week, PC Andrews added: “I hope that the sentence given to Welland will help both victims finally begin to come to terms with what has happened to them all those years ago which has left a lasting and devastating impact on both of their lives since, and that it will help them to be able to start to move on.”

A spokesperson for NSPCC Jersey condemned Welland for having “subjected two young children to years of pain and horror.”

They continued: “This abuse has now come to light thanks to their bravery in coming forward, and we hope they are getting the support they need to move on with their lives.

“Adults who wish to report abuse no matter how long ago, or have concerns about a child, can phone the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000 or email help@nspcc.org.uk, while children can contact Childline any time on 0800 1111 or at www.childline.org.uk.”