A respected solicitor who defended paedophiles in court has been jailed for more than eight years for sexually assaulting young girls and boys from a church youth group three decades ago.

Mike Pulsford, 67, was sentenced at Southampton Crown Court after admitting 16 counts of indecent assault that occurred between 1974 and 1989. He had worked as a solicitor for decades, representing numerous sex offenders in Swindon courts, despite knowing he had abused children himself, starting when he was 23.

Pulsford was a youth club leader and volunteer with the Corsham-based church group Urban Saints for around 30 years. He was a clerk to the justices when he was admitted as a solicitor in 1980, becoming a deputy clerk to the North Wiltshire Magistrates a year later.

He was one of the first solicitors in the country to receive the right to be heard in a crown court, despite not being a barrister. He has defended clients including a number of convicted sex offenders and Britain's youngest drink driver. He also represented the Earl of Cardigan when he was cleared of assaulting a man in a row over family paintings.

The court heard that Pulsford forced his victims to kiss him, even showing one youngster a horror film to scare him enough to join the solicitor in his bed at his home in Gastard, Wiltshire, where he then sexually assaulted him.

One victim, now in his 50s, stated, "I wonder if he was only in the Crusaders to gain potentially unlimited access to children. My childhood innocence was taken away by this evil individual. I was manipulated by an evil individual. Describing him as a person or even an animal would be a travesty."

The court also heard from one of his female victims, who he groomed over a number of years. He initially drove her to a layby in his car to chat and eventually had sex with her when she turned 16.

When the woman came forward to report him in 2011, Pulsford denied it and continued his work as a solicitor. He finally admitted to the offences last October.

Judge Peter Henry told Pulsford that he had pretended to live by Christian values he was teaching people, but the whole time he took advantage of his position to abuse young children. He said, "You were a sexual predator. While it might be said in the 1970s and 80s the public were less atuned to the serious impact of sexual abuse on children, you would be acutely aware as a solicitor."

Pulsford was sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison and will be banned from working with children for the rest of his life.

The senior investigating officer for Hampshire Police, Detective Inspector Toby Elcock, said, "Michael Pulsford was trusted as a youth group leader to protect the children in his charge, but instead abused this trust over and over again by indecently assaulting them. This was a complex investigation carried out by the Operation Marmion team, and we are pleased that the victims have now finally found justice having suffered the effects of this terrible abuse for decades. The bravery and courage they have shown during the course of this investigation is remarkable. I want to appeal to anyone who has been affected by this type of abuse to come forward and talk to us, and be reassured that you don't have to suffer in silence."