Milton Keynes football ref Gareth Viccars 'preyed on' young girls

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx274y4l3mjo

Version 0 of 1.

Gareth Viccars is believed to have contacted many more young girls on Snapchat

An assistant football referee who "preyed on vulnerable" young girls and asked his former girlfriend to dress as a schoolgirl has been jailed for sexually assaulting three teenagers.

Gareth Viccars, 47, of Shackleton Place, Milton Keynes, had admitted 16 counts of child sex offences against three 15-year-old girls between November 2021 and October 2024.

He was an assistant referee at the time of the offences, and the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) - the organisation responsible for managing all Premier League and EFL matches across England - said he was suspended "as soon as the allegations came to light".

Viccars was jailed for 13 and a half years at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

Viccars was told he would spend a further three and a half years on extended licence once released.

The court heard he admitted to a string of offences, including sexual communications with a child, meeting with a child following sexual grooming, causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and engaging in sexual activity with a child.

Prosecutor Charlotte Newell KC told the court Viccars had met his victims online through messaging app Snapchat.

Ms Newell read out the transcript of a voicenote sent by Viccars to one of his victims, where he referred to her as "little girl" and himself as "daddy" and "teacher".

She said the victim had appeared lonely, and added: "He, it seems, was aware of that and abused it - turning the communication sexual."

'Kind words and attention'

One of his victims read a statement in court saying Viccars had been her "world" and that she had trusted him "completely" for almost three years.

Addressing her abuser, she said he had won her over with "kind words" and "attention" and had isolated her "in plain sight".

"Now I know what you really wanted was someone young enough to manipulate," she said.

In another statement presented to the court, the victim said she blamed herself for Viccars's actions, which had broken her trust in adults.

She said: "I struggle to sleep, I have had nightmares... I'm unsure of myself, and I feel I have lost my self-esteem.

"I feel I am never going to find happiness."

Judge Caroline English told the victims: "You must not allow your lives to be blighted by seeking to shoulder any responsibility for what took place, that would be wholly wrong.

"You must allow all the responsibility to rest where it belongs, and that is entirely with Mr Viccars."

She told Viccars: "You did deliberately target these three young victims, and you did so on account of their ages at the material time.

"I am therefore quite satisfied that in all three cases you preyed upon young women that were vulnerable."

The judge said that despite Viccars's guilty pleas and expressions of remorse, there remained a lack of acknowledgement from the defendant that he had "a sexual interest in female children".

In mitigation, Laura Blackband, defending, said Viccars acknowledged that his behaviour had been "disgraceful", he had had a "difficult upbringing" and struggled with alcohol issues.

The Metropolitan Police said it believed there may be other victims of Viccars as he had been "spamming hundreds of girls on Snapchat".

Det Ch Insp Ross Morrell said: "He began with a profile of 'sorry I think I've added the wrong person', and then he would go in to lie, manipulate them, and then go on to abuse them."

The force urged anyone who might have been a victim of Viccars to get in touch.

Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.