Rapist RAF worker jailed after admitting child sex offences

A former RAF worker has been jailed for 19-and-a-half years for raping a child and sexually assaulting another.

Glenn Poyner, 35, formerly of RAF Benson in Oxfordshire, was sentenced at Shrewsbury Crown Court, sitting at Telford Magistrates’ Court, on Friday for eight child sex offences, including four counts of rape, committed against two girls.

In victim impact statements read out in court, one survivor said she no longer sleeps well due to the abuse while the other said she “lives in constant fear”.

At a hearing in May, Poyner admitted the rapes as well as one count of assault by penetration, one of causing a child aged under 13 to engage in sexual activity, and two of sexual activity with a child.

On Friday, Judge Peter Barrie jailed him for 19-and-a half years with an extended licence period of four-and-a-half years.

In a victim impact statement, one of the girls said she now suffers social anxiety and is “not confident when talking to people or trusting people”.

In the statement, read out by prosecutor Mark Connor, she said: “I don’t sleep well any more … I have previously suffered nightmares about the things that he would do to me.”

The second victim said in a statement: “I still jump when I see a yellow car or a man with a beard, I want to run because I know he will come after me, I live in constant fear.”

She added: “I know that my future has been affected, I could have done so much better without this.”

The judge told Poyner he considered him “dangerous”, adding: “I’m satisfied that there is a serious risk you may commit further … offences against young girls, teenage years and below.”

The judge added: “I think it is of the highest importance that you should be under close supervision for a substantial period after the date when you come to be released, even if that is the end of the determinant sentence I have imposed on you.

“I therefore think it is important for the protection of the public that I should impose an extended period of licence.”

Poyner will be eligible to be considered for parole after he serves two-thirds of his custodial sentence, he said.

The judge also made a sexual harm prevention order, banning him from contacting either victim directly or indirectly.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said Poyner was discharged from the RAF in June.

The Daily Mail previously reported Poyner was housed at RAF Benson, a military family estate near a primary school, after his guilty pleas, despite parents objecting.

Poyner was moved to the estate after he was threatened in the block housing he shared with colleagues, the newspaper reported.