A former RAF mechanic who worked on Radar systems at the height of the Cold War has been unmasked as a paedophile who terrorised young girls. Geoffrey Nurthen, now aged 89, molested the youngsters when he was in his 30s, in the early 1970s, Croydon Crown Court heard on Wednesday (June 25).
Once a respected veteran with 15-years military service at a time when Britain feared a Soviet nuclear attack, Nurthen’s four convictions for indecent assault after a trial earlier this year have left his reputation in tatters. This week two victims told how their lives had been ruined, with one attempting suicide.
Prosecutor William Tatford KC told the court how Nurthen would attack the girls, telling them ‘no, you will enjoy it’ when one asked him to stop. Even when his victims complained about the pain, Nurthen responded ‘you need to relax, it’s not going to hurt’.
As adults in the 1990s, the victim-survivors tried to report Nurthen’s disgusting behaviour, but he denied it. Nurthen was finally brought to court in 2023, when he was charged with nine offences. After denying all of them, he was cleared by jurors on five counts and convicted on four, including two multiple incident counts with 30 plus offences.
It took more than half-a-century to finally see Nurthen jailed for 12 years this week, but one victim described the effects of Nurthen’s perversions as a ‘life sentence’. Speaking from behind a screen, the woman described the vile abuse as ‘deliberate and manipulative over years and years to satisfy his sole wants and needs’.
Still struggling to sleep at night without a light on, the woman said she still has nightmares about Nurthen ‘coming to get me’. If it were not for the birth of her children, she said she may have taken her own life. “Sometimes I just feel like I am rotting from the inside out,” she said.
Speaking about the girl she once was, the survivor said: “She was abandoned by those who were meant to care for her.” She also said giving evidence at the trial had left her feeling ‘the worst I have ever felt’.
“It’s important to know the damage done was not temporary. What he did is a life sentence. He altered the course of my life from a very young age.”
Nurthen’s other victim also said ‘life stopped’ when his abuse started, triggering a period marred by ‘repeated nightmares, flashbacks, and panic attacks’. In her impact statement, she wrote: “I would shake uncontrollably and burst into tears for no apparent reason. I would binge eat and be sick. Exercise excessively.”
When she tried to take her own life as an adult, this caused medical complications that left her learning how to walk and talk again.
Military tech ‘pioneer’ jailed for 12 years
Nurthen’s defence counsel Charlotte Newell KC described her client as a ‘pioneer’ in his field, having worked as a mechanic in the RAF from the age of 15. After travelling to America for a NATO anniversary with the famous Dambusters 617 Squadron, responsible for daring bouncing bomb raids on German dams during World War Two, Nurthen also spent time in Canada and Singapore working on the latest Radar warning systems.
Nurthen, who wore an Avro Vulcan bomber pin on the lapel of his tweed jacket, also worked for the Civil Aviation Authority in Ireland, for Rolls Royce, and then later for telecoms business ITT which became Alcatel.
In later life, Nurthen developed computer systems from scratch for commercial unions and continued as a consultant into his retirement so he could support his wife who died with Alzheimer’s disease in 2009. After her death, Newell said Nurthen lived a ‘quiet and civil life’, attending an RAF veteran’s association as friends around him also died.
Judge Anthony Dunne was limited by sentencing guidelines at the time of the offences, which gave a maximum of 5 years jail time for indecent assault. Under current laws, Nurthen could have faced up to 15 years in prison for each offence.
After limited mitigation from Ms Newell, which included his lack of previous convictions, positive good character, and old age, Judge Dunne passed consecutive sentences of four years for the multiple incident counts and another two years each for the single incidents.
The law at the time also bound the judge to pass a separate four year special license period. It means Nurthen will serve at least eight years before he is eligible for parole, plus a four year license period once the license period for his sentence expires. Nurthen also becomes a registered sex offender who must report his whereabouts to police.
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