CHILDREN'S entertainer David Payne was jailed for 12 years for a string of sex offences on girls as young as four.

Father-of-two Payne who advertised his party magic shows in Swindon Yellow Pages was found guilty three years ago of raping a nine-year-old and indecently assaulting two others. He also admitted 15 similar crimes involving a total of six girls over a five-year period.

When he was sentencing Payne, Judge John McNaught told Payne of Burton, near Chippenham, he had a personality that was attractive to children and allowed their parents to trust him.

A parent of one of the victims said Payne had abused every trust he ever had.

At the time DS Steve Hedley who headed the investigation said if Payne had gone through police checks no previous convictions would have come to light as there were none and no objections would have been lodged to prevent him working with children.

FORMER scout district commissioner and RAF Squadron Leader Brian Trood was jailed for a year in 1999 after admitting sexually assaulting two boys aged 12 and 13.

The abuse started at a summer scout camp and continued on a regular basis for more than a year.

At the time Trood of Park Lane, Corsham was the district scout commissioner for villages to the north west of Swindon and Malmesbury. The court heard he asked the boys to strip during games.Trood was awarded the MBE following his work in the Gulf War. He was dismissed by the RAF and put on the National Sex Offender register for 10 years.