Churchman told he is too fat to go to prison

Malaysia News.Net
Thursday 3rd December, 2009

The BBC has reported that a 66-year-old church elder, convicted of indecently assaulting a child, has escaped a prison sentence due to his obesity rendering his health "precarious."

Instead he has received a suspended a two-and-a-half year term for indecently assaulting his female victim from the age of ten to eighteen.

John William McConaghy, from Urbal Road, Dervock, County Antrim, was found guilty of indecent assault was allowed to leave the court after the judge declared his lack of mobility and ulcerated legs amounted to exceptional circumstances.

Apart from the suspended jail term, a £10,000 fine was also imposed.

During a 10-day trial in October McConaghy's victim, who is now 44, said she was indecently assaulted so often it became "the norm".

She said while McConaghey's abuse stopped when she reached adulthood, she still had to fight him off, at one time scratching his face.

Have your say on this story