Families of pervert's victims speak out

10:47am Saturday 17th May 2008

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FAMILIES of victims of pervert David Aston have described their hatred for the driving instructor who bribed their daughters into satisfying his "bizarre" sexual predilections.

Driving instructor Aston, 32, is facing jail after an Oxford Crown Court jury found Aston, of Bell Close, Cassington, guilty of two counts of sexual activity with a child and four of causing or enticing a child to engage in sexual activity.

The married father-of-two met one of the girls in an Internet chatroom and told her he had starred in videos for websites catering for people who liked being kicked.

The court heard Aston twice stripped naked from the waist downwards, crouched on all fours on a towel in woodland near Bicester and encouraged four girls to kick him in the groin until he could no longer handle the pain.

One mother, who cannot be named, said she felt sick when a police officer arrived on her doorstep and told her what had happened.

The 37-year-old said: "If she had kicked me to the ground and beaten me to a pulp I could not have felt any worse.

"I was gutted, devastated and angry.

"Even now I have never felt such hatred for a person in my life.

"Listening to her give evidence broke my heart."

She said her daughter, who is now 16, was suffering depression partly as a result of what had happened.

The girl's grandmother, 58, said: "What I feel about him is not printable. I would describe him as a predator.

"I want to follow him for the rest of his life so people are aware he is a menace to young girls.

"It was the hardest thing I have ever had to listen to.

"Having to sit there and listen to her describe it.

"It was heartbreaking really, she looked so young and vulnerable.

"She looked so child-like - how could he have mistaken her for anything other than what she was?"

The mother of another of the girls said she found out what had happened when her then 13-year-old daughter told her later the same night.

The 36-year-old said: "I am annoyed, disgusted.

"I don't believe an adult could do something like that. You hear about these things but you never think they are going to happen to you.

"I hope he gets what he deserves."

The girl's father added he would to see the so-called "Sarah's Law" introduced to give parents the right to know the identity of paedophiles living in their community.

He said: "It has been very hard for me to be rubbing shoulders with this man during the trial.

"I would like him to be put in a room with all the parents for a couple of hours.

"I am not going to say throw away the key but at the end of the day I hope he has learned something from this."

Thames Valley Police Det Con Nikki Smith said: "This case has taken two years to come to a conclusion.

"The victims and their families were extremely patient during the investigation and have behaved in an honourable manner throughout the trial.

"I would like to praise the young victims who were brave in coming forward to report the incident and who were co-operative and honest during the investigation so something like this would not happen to another innocent teenager.

"The man befriended the victims on a chatroom that is mostly used by teenagers and encouraged them to meet him by offering money and alcohol.

"This case has again highlighted how the Internet can make teenagers, like the ones in this case, vulnerable at the hands of adults who do not have their best intentions in mind."