Abused power as a police officer to sexually assault girls

Disgraced Police Officer Spared Jail After Suicide Attempts

A former police officer who sexually abused a young girl while volunteering at a children's home in the 1970s has been spared jail after two failed suicide attempts left him in a wheelchair.

Tim Lively, 62, from Bidford-on-Avon, Warwickshire, was shown "mercy" by a judge at Warwick Crown Court on Monday after hearing that he is now wheelchair-bound due to a car crash.

Lively, a former sergeant and detective constable, was convicted of two counts of indecent assault and one of gross indecency in May 2019. He committed the offenses in the 1970s while serving as a Warwickshire police cadet and volunteering at a children's home.

Appearing in court in a wheelchair, Lively was sentenced to 20 months in prison, suspended for 18 months. Judge Anthony Potter cited Lively's suicide attempts as the reason for the suspended sentence.

"Following his conviction, Mr. Lively made first an attempt to take an overdose, and then a couple of days later made a bid to end his life by driving his car at speed into a tree," said the judge. "That has left him confined to a wheelchair and has profoundly affected his short-term memory, and he is also assessed as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder."

"I sentence you for offenses you committed over 40 years ago and were convicted of over two years ago," Judge Potter continued. "Your personal circumstances were very different. You came from a loving home, and she was in care at the home where you volunteered. She was particularly vulnerable, something which you quickly identified. You befriended her and gained her trust and then sought to exploit that. It began when you were 16 or 17 and in the police cadets. She did it because she was scared and saw you as a figure of authority. You were not willing to admit what you had done, which caused a great deal of unpleasant memories to be dredged up, and it has had a continuing impact on her. I am just persuaded, as an act of mercy, that I can suspend the sentence."

In addition to the suspended sentence, Judge Potter imposed an 8pm-7am curfew for three months and ordered Lively to register as a sex offender for ten years.

The court heard that Lively became a wealthy businessman after leaving Warwickshire Police in 1986. Following a 15-week trial, he was found guilty of two charges of indecently assaulting a girl in the late 1970s and one of gross indecency with the same girl. He was cleared of nine further charges relating to four boys. A further 14 charges were allowed to lie on file after Lively was deemed unfit for trial.

Prosecutor Rosina Cottage QC told the court that Lively abused the girl, who was between 10 and 12, while he volunteered at a children's home.

Stephen Vullo QC, defending Lively, argued that his client had already suffered "very significant punishment" due to his injuries and mental state. "He is in a wheelchair, and will be for life, and has a brain injury which he will have for life," said Vullo.