Radio Jackie News banner

107.8 Radio Jackie - Bulletins aired each hour



Monday 24 May 2021

Full story: A former police officer and football coach from Lower Kingswood has been jailed for 29 years for sex assaults on children.

68 year old Stephen Henry Walker was found guilty of 40 charges of sexual assaults relating to 15 victims, both boys and girls, following the conclusion of the second trial.

Statements from a number of the victims involved were read out in court. 

One victim spoke of the “severe and prolonged psychological harm” suffered as a result of Walker’s offending, including a serious attempt to take her own life.

Another spoke about the severe depression he had suffered as a result of the abuse and the “profound and significantly detrimental effect on my mental health for most of my life”, while another described himself as having “lived a life of torture which leaves me a broken man today relying on the care of services, my parents and medication”.

Following Walker’s conviction in March, another victim said “a weight had been lifted”, and said that he was “less anxious and able to sleep for eight hours rather than being awake half the night”.

Walker was found guilty of 33 counts of sexual assault following the first trial which started on the 4th of January and lasted over seven weeks. 

The jury came back with a unanimous verdict after deliberating for just three hours.

The jury also returned a unanimous guilty verdict on a further seven counts of sexual assault following the second trial which started on the 8th of March.

An investigation into Walker’s offending was launched after one of the victims came forward in March 2018.

As the enquiries progressed, the scale of Walker’s offending, and his strong sexual interest in children soon became apparent. 

The offences included sexual assaults, gross indecency with children and inciting a child to commit an act of gross indecency.

Walker, who worked as a salesman and was also a police officer with the Metropolitan Police for a brief period, was also a coach for a number of children’s football teams, where he met some of the victims, while others were children he knew through family friends.

Although the majority of the offences were committed in Surrey, Walker also abused children in France and Malta and other locations outside of the UK jurisdiction.

Once the full extent of Walker’s abuse started to come to light, he fled to Malta where he lived under an alias.

He returned to the UK in October 2019 and was subsequently arrested on suspicion of child sex offences. 

Two days later, he was charged and remanded into custody due to the serious risk he posed to children, as well as being a flight risk having previously fled the country.

A team from Surrey Police’s Complex Abuse Unit then worked relentlessly to locate other potential victims and witnesses in order to obtain as much as evidence as possible. 

This resulted in a large number of victims being identified and led to further charges being laid against Walker while he was on remand.

During the investigation, the team also had to provide support to a large numbers of victims and witnesses, made all the more challenging due to the pandemic that also resulted in the delay of the trials, which also impacted on the victims.

Detective Constable Emma Gibson from the Complex Abuse Unit said: “I would like to pay tribute to the victims and witnesses in this case for their commitment and resilience throughout the investigation. Without their support and patience we would not have been able to bring Stephen Walker to justice.

“The trial was delayed by several months and heard during a very unsettling time for all due to the coronavirus pandemic. All involved demonstrated true strength and courage in giving their evidence and I hope today’s result brings them some validity and closure, as well as some sense of justice after all these years of having to live with what he did to them.”

Detective Inspector Paddy Mayers from the Complex Abuse Unit, said: “Walker was a vile sexual predator who used his position as a football coach, trusted member of the community and friend, to gain access to children and then seriously abuse them for his own gratification. The scale of his offending, which went unchallenged for years, cannot be underestimated.

“I would also like to thank all those involved in the investigation for their hard work and dedication under extremely trying circumstances, with not only a huge number of victims and witnesses, but also the substantial delays to the trial as a result of the pandemic. 

“I hope that Walker’s conviction sends a clear message that we will always do everything we can to ensure allegations of sexual abuse are investigated thoroughly and that we will leave no stone unturned to get to the truth.”

posted by Radio Jackie News Team @ 4:54 pm  

Top of Radio Jackie News page here.

RJ Home button

One of many reasons why we are so useful to South West London... our very own news team bringing you stories that are relevant to you and your area.
If you have a press release or would like to send in news then pop off an e-mail to [email protected]

radio Jackie News Twitter
Follow Jackie News at twitter.com/jackie_news.

Listen to Jackie's latest News and Travel
Radio Jackie Latest News  Radio Jackie Latest Travel
News Team - - Local news 24 hours a day

news reader
Lucy Mayer
Lucy is the News and Travel Editor. Find out more about her on the Presenters page.

news reader
Luke Williams
Luke spends his free time playing synthesisers and watching old sitcoms. Journalism helps remind him of the 21st century.

news reader
Chloe Norman
Chloe presents both news and travel - find out more about her on the Presenters page.

news reader
Alex Loveridge
Alex loves watching tennis at Surbiton and Wimbledon and also plays a bit too. He swims at Richmond, but not in the Thames.

news reader
Mike Oban
Mike enjoys playing and watching sports and is a budding football coach.

news reader
Jacqui Kerr
Jacqui enjoys all sports and has had a go at most! She loves talking, current affairs, music, and walking her polar-bear-sized dog.

news reader
David Walker
David´s philosophy is you only live once so go out and grab every opportunity no matter how small.

news reader
John Beesley
John lives in Hounslow. He enjoys beer and singing with barbershop quartets and choruses, though not necessarily in that order.

news reader
Clare Whitehead
Clare is a playwright, an experienced voiceover artist and the narrator of several audio books. She loves dogs and ballet!

news reader
Jiji Ahn
Jiji can often be found visiting galleries, trying new cuisines and researching the latest trends and stories.

news reader
Holly Carnegie
Holly presents both news and travel - find out more about her on the Presenters page.

news reader
Alex Duke
Alex loves watching football, but also enjoys tennis and Formula One. He swims and hikes regularly and is a self-confessed history nerd.

news reader
Megan McElroy
Megan grew up in SW London and is interested in all things news.

news reader
Roshni Chouhan
Roshni loves playing tennis and everything related to music. SHe has been told she has a hidden talent mastering accents.
If you are researching a news story from the past our archive goes back over many years.
Please email [email protected] with any enquiries.