Airman gets 12 years for rape

1:23pm Friday 28th July 2006

AN American airman has been jailed for 12 years for raping three teenage girls in North Yorkshire.

Staff Sergeant James Gardner got the 14, 15 and 17-year-olds drunk before forcing himself upon them, York Crown Court heard today.

The 34-year-old took advantage of the girls, who all lived in a childrens home in North Yorkshire, while he was serving at the top secret US base at RAF Menwith Hill, near Harrogate.

Gardner claimed the teenagers consented to sex with him at his Harrogate flat but a jury last month found him guilty of five counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault and another of attempted rape following a trial in York.

Today, Judge Paul Hoffman made reference to Gardner's exemplary career, saying he was a credit to the air force.

But the judge added: "You have lost all that, Im afraid, by these convictions."

Judge Hoffman ordered Gardner to be put on the sex offenders register for life and to be deported after his release from prison, which he said would probably be after serving half the 12 years.

The judge ordered separate sentences of four years and six years respectively for the two sexual assaults to run concurrently with the 12 years for the five rapes and the attempted rape.

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