June 2013
NORTH CUMBRIA SCOUT LEADER JAILED FOR SEX ATTACK ON BOY
A Scout leader from north Cumbria has been jailed after he admitted a sex attack on a boy 25 years ago.
Antony Brooke, 43, was finally brought to justice during a brief hearing at Cardiff Crown Court when he pleaded guilty to the 1988 assault.
The scouting enthusiast, of Tait Street, Carlisle, was jailed for 10 months and put on the Sex Offenders’ Register for the next 10 years. The judge in the case also banned him from working with children.
Brooke was due to stand trial but admitted the offence just a few weeks before the hearing was due to start.
A spokesman for the Scout Association confirmed that Brooke was a volunteer leader with the movement in north Cumbria for a number of years, but declined to say where.
He would neither confirm nor deny that Brooke – known by his friends as Tony – volunteered in Dalston, a claim sent anonymously to the News & Star office.
The spokesman said Brooke was given a Criminal Records Bureau check but it is thought that he has no previous criminal history, and so would not have been flagged up as a person of high risk.
The spokesman said: “He was suspended from any form of contact with the movement as soon as police began their investigations.
“He has not been involved since his arrest.
“We can confirm that he will never again be allowed to work within the Scout movement.”
He said systems were in place to offer support and reassurance to local Scout volunteers and this is likely to have happened in this case.
The spokesman added: “Fortunately, cases such as this involving a current Scout leader are rare.
“The Scout Association has co-operated fully with the statutory agencies.
“The Scout Association carries out stringent vetting of all adults who work with young people and requires them to work to a strict code of practice.”
In one recent Facebook post, a person going under the name Tony Brooke has praised the organisation of a Carlisle Scout Day event, but the association pointed out that this was before his arrest.
Few details of Brooke’s offence have been revealed, other than that it happened in South Wales in 1988.
