A gymnastics coach from Brighton has been jailed for six years for sexually assaulting two girls.
Martin O’Hara, 50, of Medmerry Hill, Higher Bevendean, denied the offences. He was convicted of eight indecent assaults by a jury at Brighton Crown Court after a ten-day trial.
O’Hara, now jobless, committed the offences while working as a freelance gymnastics coach between dates in 1993 and 2001.
Six were offences of indecent assault on a girl then aged 14 or 15 in Horsham from 1993 to 1995.
Two were of indecent assault on another girl then aged 12 or 13 at Southwater, Horsham, from 1995 to 1997.
Three of the six offences against the first girl were committed in a gym club and the other five offences were committed elsewhere in the Horsham area.
The jury was unable to agree on a verdict for a separate charge of sexual activity with another young teenage girl in the Horsham area between dates in 2008 and 2011. O’Hara was found not guilty of that charge.
Detective Constable Nathalie Bundy, from Sussex Police, said: “The victims gave evidence in court and we admire both their readiness to do so and the way in which they so clearly described what had happened to them.
“Anyone who has information or concerns about sexual offending, whether against them or against others, can contact police at any time via 101@sussex.pnn.police.uk or by calling 101 and arranging to speak to specially trained detectives in confidence.”
