This is the moment a paedophile lied about trying to save a 10-year-old boy moments after throwing him 100ft off a cliff to try and ‘silence him’ after raping his 12-year-old sister.
Anthony Stocks, 54, who was today jailed for life with a minimum term of 19 and a half years, had groomed the girl and made her dependent on him while he was working as an extra on several films.
However, his vile campaign of abuse threatened to be disrupted when his victim confided in her brother that she was ‘scared’.
In an effort to cover up his crimes, Stocks took the boy to a towering chalk cliff top in Ovingdean near Brighton before pushing him onto the beach below, where he suffered catastrophic injuries but somehow survived.
Moments after trying to murder the boy on September 24, 2022, Stocks insisted to police on the beach that it had all been an accident, saying: ‘He started running and I said ”Don’t go near that cliff”… then he went over.’
Anthony Stocks, 54, insisted to police on the beach that it had all been an accident, saying: ‘He started running and I said ”Don’t go near that cliff”… then he went over’
Stocks took the boy to a towering chalk cliff top in Ovingdean near Brighton before pushing him onto the beach below
Stocks claimed he took the boy to the chalk cliffs to admire the view because it featured in the film Quadrophenia
The paedophile’s account was initially believed to be genuine before police interviewed both the girl and the boy. Today, he showed no emotion as a judge sentenced him to life in prison.
Judge Nigel Daly, passing sentence in Oxford Crown Court, told Stocks: ‘You have ruined the lives of these two children.
‘The attempt on the brother was a direct attempt to remove the one potential witness to your sexual assaults and to prevent him from interfering with, and potentially preventing, the sexual assaults on his young sister.
‘There is no word in the entire English language that can accurately describe the cruelty, the horror, the indecency and the near-death experience that this boy was exposed to. It was simply inhumane.’
Stocks’ trial heard how he had become ‘utterly obsessed’ with the girl and believed they would one day marry.
After he learned she had told her brother about his abuse and planned to ‘disrupt it’, the paedophile – from Goring-on-Thames in Oxfordshire – lured him on a trip to London to see the Chelsea FC stadium.
Stocks then took him to the cliffs at Ovingdean – later claiming this was to admire the view because it featured in the film Quadrophenia.
A witness said they then saw a ‘small shape fall as if thrown from the cliff’, followed by ‘a shriek’.
The boy was airlifted to St George’s Hospital in London, where it was discovered he had several fractures on his head and arm, a deformity to his neck and a laceration of his spleen and kidney.
When interviewed by police, the girl said Stocks had admitted he was going to push the boy off the cliff ‘as he wanted to get rid of him’.
Initially the boy could not remember whether he had been pushed or fell.
But after months spent recovering in hospital told police he ‘knew everything’ about the sexual abuse his sister had suffered, with Stocks asking to rape her ‘pretty much every day’.
Stocks having the charges read to him by police following his arrest
The twice-married paedophile, from Goring-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, has a cigarette outside court
Judge Daly told the defendant: ‘The boy became aware of your behaviour towards his sister and tried to prevent you being alone together.
‘He was not entirely successful but he interfered enough to make you decide to get rid of him. Your solution to this problem was to take him to Brighton and to push him from a 100ft cliff.
‘At the bottom of the cliff was a concrete path. By sheer coincidence, the concrete didn’t quite reach to the foot of the cliff, and the boy landed on rough soil instead.
‘If he had landed two to three feet out, he would have landed on concrete and I do not doubt that he would have been killed instantly.’
The judge remarked the attempted murder was not a spur of the moment decision as Stocks had previously taken the boy to a quarry in Oxfordshire and ‘contemplated’ pushing the boy off the cliffs there, before changing his mind.
The boy’s sister, who gave live evidence at trial, also said that Stocks had approached her a few nights before the trip to Stamford Bridge and told her: ‘I’m going to push him off a cliff. I want to get rid of him so we can be together.’
The court heard the girl had tried to warn her brother not to go with Stocks – in vain, as the boy was a keen Chelsea fan and had always wanted to see the stadium.
Judge Daly told the defendant: ‘The evidence showed that you had researched your plan carefully. You knew of the cliffs at Brighton from watching the film Quadrophenia.
‘You had made internet inquiries about trains to Brighton and made inquiries about the distance from Brighton seafront to the cliffs
‘This boy trusted you and you betrayed that trust in an attempt to cover up your own deviant sexual behaviour towards his young sister.
‘You groomed and assaulted this young girl for your own sexual pleasure and it happened time and time again.
‘It is clear from the evidence that you became utterly obsessed with her and would go to any lengths to prevent anyone interfering with your abhorrent behaviour.’
A police officer stands guard at the scene of the attempted murder on the evening of Saturday, September 24, 2022
Stocks was found guilty after trial on eight counts including attempted murder, rape and sexual assaults.
Prosecutor Zoe Johnson told the court the boy has now returned to full-time education and is ‘managing his life.’
‘It is a testament to his incredible courage, resilience, and determination,’ she added.
As for the girl victim, the judge heard there was still ‘a very long way to go for her to feel safe enough to express her emotions, to trust that others won’t hurt her, and to trust that others might want to support her.’
In a victim impact statement read out in court today by the prosecution, the boy victim said: ‘I definitely tried to protect my sister from him [Stocks].
‘I was too young to have had to protect my sister and someone else should have had to do that. It made me grow up quicker. I felt angry all the time. I feel angry now as well.’
In her victim impact statement, the girl said she was ‘scared all the time’ before Stocks was arrested.
She said: ‘My life was different from other children and I was always at home. He [Stocks] frightened me and I could not get away from him. Now I have a proper life. I go to school and I have fun.’
Before the hearing was brought to an end, the judge praised the children for their ‘courage’ in giving evidence during the trial.
Judge Daly told the court: ‘These children’s courage and determination to give their account was quite humbling.
‘The boy desperately tried to protect his sister from Mr Stocks. The girl learned his plan to kill her brother and tried everything in her power to convince him not to carry it out.
‘Both gave their evidence in a remarkably clear and mature way. I find both of the children very impressive and they should be very proud.’
