Eugene Hughes, 80, on his way to the Royal Court building yesterday. (0635208)

A PENSIONER was sent to prison for six-and-a-half years yesterday for a series of indecent assaults on young girls.

Eugene Hughes, 80, admitted eight counts in the Royal Court of inappropriate contact with girls between the ages of seven and 14 that occurred between July 1987 and January 1996.

Sentencing, Judge Russell Finch said Hughes had committed despicable offences and the social inquiry report gave the court gross cause for concern.  There was also a chance that he would re-offend.

‘You have shown limited victim awareness and continue to express that you had no sexual satisfaction while undertaking these abuses,’ he said. ‘Your attitude is typical of those who commit these sort of offences against children.’

A five-year extension order to the sentence would be imposed on Hughes’s release and, if he breached certain conditions, he would be returned to jail. Details of the offences given to the court were shocking and too graphic for publication.