Patrick Rock

Patrick Rock
Born Patrick Robert John Rock de Besombes
(1951-11-17) 17 November 1951
Kensington, London, England
Nationality British
Education Stonyhurst College
Worcester College, Oxford
Occupation Political aide to the Prime Minister
Employer British government
Criminal charge Possession of 59 indecent images of children, Child grooming, Child pornography
Criminal penalty two year conditional discharge
Conviction(s) 1 June 2016 (guilty plea) of possessing and downloading indecent images of children

Patrick Robert John Rock de Besombes (born 17 November 1951), is a British former political aide, special adviser and convicted child sex offender. He was deputy director of policy for David Cameron, Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom, until he resigned in 2014 over allegations of making and possessing indecent images of children.[1]

Early life

Educated at Stonyhurst College and Worcester College, Oxford, where he studied Modern History, he was widely credited in Westminster with coining the phrase 'Cows moo, dogs bark, Labour puts up taxes.'[2]

Political career

At the age of 28 he stood unsuccessfully for the Woolwich East constituency in the 1979 General election and was also unsuccessful in Crewe and Nantwich in 1983.

In 1984 the sitting MP for the Portsmouth South constituency, Bonner Pink, died, causing a By-election. At the time the Conservative Party had a majority of over 12,000, however he was defeated by 1,341 votes by the Social Democratic Party candidate Mike Hancock, leading to his defeat being described as the 'biggest election [upset in] years'[3]

Rock tried one last time to become a Conservative MP. In 1990 he attempted to be selected as the Conservative candidate for Devizes but lost out to former Conservative MP Michael Ancram QC,[3] who was elected in 1992.

Special advisor

After his unsuccessful attempts at becoming an MP, Rock became an advisor to various Ministers during the 1990s, including Michael Howard and also Chris Patten in Brussels, where he was given responsibility for the Western Balkans.[4]

In 2011, David Cameron brought him into his government by appointing him as his 10 Downing Street Deputy Director of Policy.

Child sexual abuse allegations and trial

In March 2014 it was discovered that he had been arrested on the charges of child pornography.[5]

Rock was charged, in June 2014, with three counts of making an indecent photograph of a child in August 2013. He was also charged with possession of 59 indecent images of children.[6]

In December 2014 he pleaded not guilty to six charges of making indecent photographs of children aged between 10 and 13 and one charge of possessing 56 indecent images of children aged between 10 and 14.[7]

He appeared at Southwark Crown Court on Friday 16 October 2015, where according to tweets issued by ExaroNews, 'Judge Alistair McCreath ... granted Patrick Rock bail until trial date in May 2016 (30th).[8]

He admitted downloading images of 20 young girls. The images showed them in sexualised poses, in bikinis or bras, but not engaged in sexual activity. On 1 June 2016 he was found guilty of possessing and downloading indecent images of children. He was acquitted of 3 charges, and the jury was unable to reach a verdict on 12 charges. [9] He was given a two-year conditional discharge.[10]

Commenting in the Daily Telegraph, Joan Smith pointed out that his youngest victim, now 10, would have been even younger 2 years ago when the offences were committed and that his government duties had included devising policies to make the internet safer for children. Smith expressed astonishment that Rock would not spend a single night in prison and says upper class status protected him.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Ex-Cameron aide Patrick Rock charged over abuse images". BBC news. 27 June 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  2. ↑ Victoria King (2 June 2016). "Profile: Former David Cameron aide Patrick Rock". BBC news. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  3. 1 2 Peter Dominiczak (4 March 2014). "Who is Patrick Rock?". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  4. ↑ Ben Quinn (4 March 2014). "Patrick Rock: hard-nosed, influential member of Tory party establishment". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  5. ↑ Rowena Mason and Nicholas Watt (14 March 2014). "Patrick Rock arrest: David Cameron defends secrecy". the Guardian. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  6. ↑ Matthew Holehouse (27 June 2014). "Cameron aide Patrick Rock charged over child abuse images". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  7. ↑ "Ex-Cameron aide Patrick Rock denies child images offences". BBC. 19 December 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  8. ↑ https://twitter.com/exaronews/status/655040414345506816, 16 October 2015; cf. http://courtnewsuk.co.uk/online_archive/?name=patrick+rock&sa=Search#results.
  9. ↑ "Ex-Cameron aide Patrick Rock guilty of child image offences". BBC News. 1 June 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  10. 1 2 Joan Smith (2 June 2016). "'Humiliation' isn't the real reason ex-Cameron aide Patrick Rock walked free after making indecent images of girls". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/30/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.