Grovelling Wakefield paedophile changed plea after refusing to attend trial

Grovelling Peter Fahey offered "sincere apologies" to the judge at Leeds Crown Court this week after initially denying any wrongdoing and telling the judge he would not be present at his upcoming trial, saying he was going home to Ireland.

But the 64-year-old panicked when Judge Christopher Batty told him he would have to be held on remand until his trial as a result of his comments, and warned Fahey: "Don't play the system."

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Fahey then tried to wriggle out of it by saying he meant he would only be going to Ireland for one day, but he was taken away by the dock officer into custody. He was returned to court the next day where he made a U-turn and entered a guilty plea to breaching the terms of the sex offender register.

Prosecutor Jade Edwards told the court during the first hearing that Fahey has three convictions for three offences, including sexual assaults on a female under 14, for which he received a six-month suspended sentence. He was also convicted of sexual assault on a female under 13, for which he received 26 weeks' jail.

As a result, Fahey, who gave his address as the Citilodge Hotel on Lower Warrengate, Wakefield, is currently on the sex offender register. His barrister, Aubrey Sampson, thought Fahey was planning to enter a guilty plea for failing to tell the police about a change of address as part of the register's conditions.

But when he was arraigned, Fahey refused to accept the breach, and said: "I know I have not done anything wrong." He was told he would therefore have to go to trial, before he responded by saying he would not attend.

During the second hearing the next day, Mr Sampson told Judge Batty: "I'm instructed, that this is sincere and genuine, to apologise to your honour. He meant no disrespect whatsoever. He knows that what he said came across as wrong."

He said that Fahey was "not a well man", has cirrhosis of the liver and is undergoing tests for suspected cancer. Judge Batty finally bailed him to appear again on May 1 for sentencing of the breach.