A pensioner jailed for sexually assaulting children and repeatedly caught with indecent images has died in prison just over a year after his latest sentencing. Kenneth McNabb, 75, died on October 27 at HMP Millsike, a category C prison in Yorkshire, two weeks before his 76th birthday on November 9.
McNabb was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court in June last year to six-and-a-half years for his latest offending. He had admitted two counts of indecent assault, possession of indecent images of children, three counts of making indecent images, possession of prohibited images of a child, possession of an extreme pornographic image and breaching a sexual offences prevention order.
Decades of Offending
McNabb had previously been jailed for similar offences, including a five-year sentence in 1999 for sexually assaulting two girls. He was also convicted of offences relating to indecent images of children in 2011, 2014 and 2021, despite being subject to a lifelong sexual offences protection order.
In court, it was heard how one complainant was in his early teens when McNabb sexually assaulted him on two occasions during the 1990s. The victim said McNabb had "put him through hell and didn't have the balls to admit what he did."
When visited by police on April 23, 2024, McNabb was found to have downloaded five category A indecent images, the most serious forms of abuse, on his Toshiba laptop, as well as one category B and three category C images.
Investigation Launched
The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) has launched an investigation into McNabb's death. He remained subject to lifelong notification requirements at the time of his death.
Paul Becker, defending, told the court that alcohol had been a factor in all of McNabb's previous offending. He said McNabb was "keen to do whatever he can to stop offending in the future" and was concerned about losing his social accommodation if imprisoned.
Becker also detailed McNabb's background, including that he completed his education without being able to read or write, was diagnosed with dyslexia when he joined the army aged 17, was last employed in 2006, and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after being the victim of an armed robbery in 2004.
McNabb appeared in the dock wearing two enamel poppy badges on his long black trench coat. Judge David Swinnerton said: "I am tempted to ask why the defendant is wearing poppies on his jacket. It does not impress, if that is what it is meant to do. He is entitled to."
