Cricket coach jailed for teen sex attacks

A 75-YEAR-old former cricket coach has been jailed for 18 months for a string of sex attacks on a teenage boy nearly 30 years ago.

Leslie Smith, from Maritime Street, Leith, carried out his assaults on the young cricket fan, who was then aged between 16 and 17 years old, while the pensioner was a coach at a cricket club in Buckinghamshire between November 1985 and October 1987.

One attack was said to have happened as Smith and his young victim travelled by train to Scotland.

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Smith was jailed at Aylesbury Crown Court after admitting two counts of indecent assault.

His victim, now aged in his 40s, told how the sex abuse he suffered as a teen had wrecked his life. He said: “Being sexually abused as a child has had a devastating effect on me. My life has been blighted in so many areas.”

Smith was brought to justice after an investigation led by Thames Valley Police’s Child Abuse Investigation Unit.

He was placed on the sex offenders register and disqualified from working with children.