by Keith Hunt

A pensioner has been jailed for eight years for sexually abusing a girl almost 20 years ago.

Former taxi driver Paul Ursell denied committing the offences and continues to maintain he is innocent. He admitted downloading child abuse images from the internet.

Maidstone Crown Court heard the offences committed with the girl at a young age dated back to the early 1990s. He molested her in Ashford and later tried to rape her.

She told how Ursell, now 69, was not able to have sex with her and said he would wait until she was older.

The girl did not tell anybody until June 2009 and Ursell was arrested in August that year. He claimed the allegations were untrue.

His computer was seized and 14 images showing girls, aged eight to 14, in indecent poses were found on the hard drive.

Ursell, of Thornton Cleveleys, Lancashire, denied one charge of attempted rape, four of indecent assault and four of indecency with a child.

He was cleared of one charge of indecent assault and one of indecency with a child and convicted of the remainder.

Ursell was said to have a number of medical conditions. He was sick in the dock as he was sentenced.

He had a previous conviction in 1976 for under-age sex with a girl, aged 13, who was a passenger in his taxi.

Judge David Griffith-Jones QC said a prison sentence of some length was demanded, as nothing less would do.

He told Ursell: "You coached her that what you were doing was permissible and it was something which she should not reveal and it should remain a secret."

The judge said the victim's personal statement made upsetting reading. She told how Ursell stole her innocence and had an effect on her upbringing, relationships and family life. She deserved credit for coming forward and braving the trial with admirable fortitude.

Ursell's name will appear on the sex offenders' register and a sexual offences prevention order bans him from contact with children or using a computer capable of accessing the internet.