"It's the only way out": Paedophile pensioner penned farewell letter before failed suicide bid

Stuart Hodgson, 74, initially denied abusing two young girls in the late 1980s and early 1990s after finding the courage to contact police in 2018.

He then tried to take his own life with an overdose of paracetamol, leaving the note for his wife to find.

Prosecuting at Leeds Crown Court, Anthony Dunne said the abuse of one girl started when she was just six years old and had involved Hodgson forcing the youngster to carry out sex acts.

The victim, who gave a video statement to police said the abuse stopped when she was 10 or 11.

However, the court was told that another young girl was also targeted by twisted Hodgson, saying that it began with tickling when she was eight year-old but then descended into sex acts.

It was after the second victim stepped forward that Hodgson was found by his wife unresponsive with his suicide note nearby.

He told the second victim he was "truly sorry" for his actions and told his wife that it was "the only way out".

After being saved, he finally admitted abusing the second girl but said it was "by accident" during play.

He continued to deny the abuse of the first girl, but eventually changed his pleas to guilty just before she was due to give evidence in court against him.

Hodgson, of The Avenue, Outwood, admitted a total of eight indecent assault offences.

Mitigating, Michael Collins said that Hodgson, who is in poor physical health and uses a walking stick, had felt such shame that his "first reaction was to attempt to take his own life".

Mr Collins said that since the allegations were made his life had come to standstill but admitted he "only has himself to blame".

He added: "I can only ask the court to consider a man of his age and ill health, and to take into account his guilty pleas, to impose a sentence that does make his death in custody inevitable."

But Recorder David Gordon told Hodgson: "You have enjoyed many years of good health, waiting for your chickens to come home to roost.

"You have no convictions up until now, but there is a sense that you held a very, very dark secret for many years.

"You lived, on the face of it, a blameless life."

He said that the effects on the two girls he preyed on would be considerable, and said they may never make a full recovery.

He jailed Hodgson for a total of 11 years and eight months, and made him the subject of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO), banning him from having any unsupervised contact with anyone under the age 16.