IF I'D written a spoof column about a serial paedophile given Viagra on the NHS and then being freed by a court after he was convicted of molesting an 11-year-old girl, you'd think I'd finally taken leave of my senses. Steady on, Rich. You've gone too far this time, even by your standards. We all know things are bad, but this is Fantasy Island stuff.
Sadly not.
Roger Martin appeared at Peterborough Crown Court this week and pleaded guilty to 'inappropriately touching' a girl who was cleaning his sheltered accommodation to earn some pocket money.
Martin, 71, has a string of convictions for assaults on minors, dating back to 1978 when he was caught having sex with a 15-year-old babysitter.
It was revealed in court that he was being prescribed Viagra by his GP to treat diabetes. The probation service said it had no powers or any inclination to stop him taking the drug.
Spokesman John McAngus said: 'We could not and would not restrict the use of prescription medication, be it Viagra or anything else. What we do is our utmost to help sex offenders address their offending behaviour.'
And despite his history of molesting children and the likelihood of Viagra enhancing his sex drive, the pre-trial probation report stated that Martin posed a 'relatively modest' risk of reoffending.
His barrister pleaded for leniency, arguing that his client 'wouldn't be able to cope' with a spell in prison and should be treated in the community.
RELUCTANTLY, Judge Nicholas Coleman agreed to impose a non-custodial sentence because of Martin's age and ill-health, even though there is nothing to stop him continuing to take Viagra and reoffending.
After being released, Martin said his Viagra use was 'a personal thing really'.
He added: 'I live on my own and I don't have any female company and I don't think I'm doing anything wrong.'
Try telling that to his 11-year-old victim.
In a case like this, it's difficult to know where to start. There have always been some dodgy characters in Peterborough. When I lived there, everyone knew the neighbourhood nonce and where he lived. Parents would warn their children about him. His nickname was a dead giveaway. He was called Frank the Bummer.
Frank used to hang around the lido and invite children to swim between his legs. But that was about as far as it went, to the best of my knowledge. If he had more carnal urges I'm not sure he ever did anything about them.
Had he ever been caught molesting a child, he wouldn't have got away with a bit of community service. The community would have built a gibbet in Cathedral Square and strung him up.
If he'd presented himself at the NHS surgery seeking something to put lead in his pencil, his doctor would have known all about him and called the police. In those days, GPs lived, worked and had often grown up in the same town as their patients. That's not always the case today, with mega clinics and many doctors newly arrived from other parts of the country and from overseas.
Patients don't always see the same doctor twice. GPs have to rely on the records in front of them. Martin was not obliged to disclose his sex convictions.
So it would be harsh to blame the doctor, although we might question why he prescribed Viagra for diabetes, rather than insulin.
It isn't clear whether Martin's probation officer knew he was taking the little blue pill. But even if he did, he thought it was none of his business.
Why was there considered only a 'relatively modest' chance that Martin might reoffend, given that he was already on probation when he carried out his latest assault? I've always assumed that someone who committed a crime while on probation went straight to jail without passing Go.
And what about the judge who acquiesced to a plea for a noncustodial sentence because Martin 'wouldn't be able to cope' with a prison term? Tough. He should have thought about that when he was attacking an 11-year-old girl.
The judge told him: 'You appear to persist in applying for the sexually stimulating drug Viagra and you continue to be prescribed it.'
So why take the risk that he might attack another child?
MARTIN'S been at it for 30 years. He's hardly likely to stop now. The safest place for him is behind bars. If he needs treatment, let him get it in prison.
All the individuals are culpable in this case, but it's the system which is rotten.
The doctor could have probed more thoroughly into Martin's reasons for wanting Viagra before writing him a repeat prescription.
But GPs are pressured to get patients out of the door as quickly as possible to meet central targets, so he probably settled for the line of least resistance.
The modern probation service is staffed by paid-up Guardianistas and is designed to serve the best interests of their criminal 'clients' not the safety of the wider public.
And as a result of the Government's failure to build enough prison places, judges are under pressure to hand down community sentences wherever possible. Maybe that's why Judge Coleman took the soft option and set Martin free.
Even the language used is 'nonjudgmental'. Child molesting is downgraded to 'inappropriate touching'.
Labour promised to be 'tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime' and this is the result. We've ended up with a career paedophile on Viagra, supplied by the NHS, molesting an 11-year-old girl and then being freed by a court on compassionate grounds because he can't face a spell in prison, poor lamb.
You couldn't make it up.
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