Grandfather jailed for abuse of girls

A GRANDFATHER who preyed on youngsters for more than two decades has been jailed for six years and given more than 225 years …

A GRANDFATHER who preyed on youngsters for more than two decades has been jailed for six years and given more than 225 years in concurrent sentences.

As Jackie McGarry (67) hobbled on a crutch from the dock of Belfast Crown Court he was cursed from the crowded public gallery by his victims' parents.

While some of the mothers sobbed, other parents called out "You crippled bastard ... I hope you rot in hell ... They'll kill you in jail ... Look at the lives you've ruined".

Judge McKay told McGarry his "revolting offences" had deprived his victims of a normal childhood.

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For more than 20 years McGarry sexually abused young girls when they came to feed budgies in a shed at the rear of his home in Farringdon Court, Ardoyne, north Belfast. He would buy the silence of his victims with money and cigarettes after indecently assaulting them.

On other occasions he would get some of them to strip in their own bedrooms as he watched from outside.

He pleaded guilty to 61 sex offences.