'Depraved' stretch limo driver who raped and abused British schoolgirls jailed | Crime

A “depraved” rapist who used a stretch limousine to abuse schoolgirls as young as 12 has been sentenced to 24 years in prison.

David Saynor, 77, lived in Rotherham and was responsible for the prostitution of numerous girls in the 2000s and early 2010s. He would pick them up from school and ply them with alcohol and cigarettes.

He particularly targeted girls living in children's homes and abused the most vulnerable of these groups by giving them money or threatening them to silence.

During a five-week trial, Sheffield Crown Court heard how Saynor would ask the children to undress or dance for him and then rape or sexually abuse them. One woman, who was 14 when Saynor began abusing her over a two-year period, said he threatened to harm her family if she told them he had raped her.

Another victim, then aged 16 and in care, was initially given a job by Saynor distributing leaflets for his limousine company. On one occasion she was driven to an area of ​​Sheffield she did not recognise and was told to perform sexual acts on him or she would be left there, miles from home with no way to return.

Judge David Dixon told him: “Not all of them were abused and it seems to me that you chose them not only to meet your particular wishes but also because they lacked the parental influence or support that would have helped them to stop what you were doing.”

The women said they were still traumatised by the abuse and robbed of their childhood. One victim said she felt as if she had been sentenced to a “life sentence”.

Another victim, who testified in court that he still suffers from nightmares, said: “Dave ruined my childhood and I feel like he ruined my adult life as well.”

She added: “I don't know who I am anymore.”

In July, Saynor was found guilty on 15 counts, including four counts of rape and two counts of payment for sexual services of a child, as well as several counts of penetrative assault, sexual act with a child and sexual act in the presence of a child.

He was told he would probably die in prison because he had to serve at least two-thirds of his sentence behind bars. Dixon told him: “You'll be in prison until 2040 – if you hold out that long.”

Sam Thompson, a special prosecutor in the state's attorney's office, said: “The manner in which David Saynor manipulated, threatened and coerced young girls in the community for his own depraved sexual desires was both cruel and manipulative.”

“We are grateful to the victims in this case for coming forward to tell the court what happened to them at the hands of Saynor.”