David Temkin and Ray Smith successfully prosecute Catholic priest for horrific sex abuse

April 18, 2017

David Temkin and Ray Smith secured guilty verdicts to all counts on an Indictment containing offences of Buggery and Indecent Assault. The jury at Liverpool Crown Court convicted Father Michael Higginbottom, a former Catholic priest, of the cruel and sadistic abuse of a pupil, then aged 13 and 14. The offences took place at St Joseph’s College in Upholland, Lancashire in the late 1970s.

The 74-year-old Defendant was imprisoned for 17 years. Sentencing, HHJ Menary QC said, “For a period of six months you made a young boy’s life a living hell. What you did to him effectively destroyed the remainder of his childhood and did a good job of destroying any faith he ever had.”

Detective Sergeant Steve Ollerton, lead investigator, commented, “David and Ray were key to securing convictions in this high profile case”.