A FORMER school welfare officer and Army Cadet Leader has been jailed for sexually assaulting a number of teenage girls in his care.
Neil Clarke Beckett sexually assaulted and had inappropriate contact with nine female pupils, aged between 14 and 17, during the years 2022-2023 at Lagan College school in Belfast.
The 43-year-old from Kilmore Village in Crossgar was also sentenced for sexual offences against two young female Army Cadets, aged between 12 and 16, between 2014 and 2019.
Beckett had been charged with 26 counts of sexual assault, one of sexual communications with a child and one of sexual grooming.
He was sentenced today at Belfast Crown Court on Friday to three years and 18 months in prison and 18 months on licence.
'Vulnerabilities'
Detective Inspector Noelle Gray said Beckett used his positions to abuse children he had been tasked with helping.
"Beckett was in a position of trust and he abused that by taking advantage of young girls who he should have been supporting," she said.
"These were young girls who were on a list, which he had access to, for extra support due to their identified vulnerabilities.
"He preyed on them and thought he would get away with it through manipulation. He was wrong.
"He also sexually abused young girls under his authority in the Army Cadets. These girls have been left traumatised by this man.
"We hope today's sentencing can provide them with some closure to begin their healing journey."
'Manipulative, narcissistic'
In an anonymous statement released on Friday, one of Beckett's victims described him as 'charmingly manipulative'.
The 20-year-old, a former student at Lagan College, said she continues to feel the effects of Beckett's abuse.
"Never in my life have I encountered a more charmingly manipulative man," she said.
"He found a way to coerce myself and many others just through his words and later his abuse.
"He found a way to make me comfortable enough to tell him all about my life and my trauma, which no doubt allowed him to identify me as vulnerable.
"This is something he clearly took great enjoyment out of.
"Still, two years after being out of that school and away from his manipulation, I feel the effects of his abuse.
"I don't sleep properly, I don't eat properly, and I don't have the ability to trust the people I love the most.
"This is what abuse does. This is what he does."
The girl's father said his daughter has autism and other complex needs, which Beckett exploited.
"Neil Beckett preyed on vulnerable girls, many of whom trusted him and were attending him for pastoral care as my daughter was," he added.
"He was a very manipulative, narcissistic, controlling and serial predator and I am glad that he is no longer a threat to children."
Beckett has also been handed a five-year Sexual Offences Protection Order and will be on the sex offenders register indefinitely.
See More: Army Cadets, Belfast, Down, Lagan College
