Jail for ‘remorseless’ pair, Adam Hastings and Reece Upton from Newbury, after boy is plied with drugs and cash for sex

A MAN who plied a vulnerable child with drugs, energy drinks and cash for sex has been jailed, along with his partner.

In the dock at Reading Crown Court on Friday, January 31, was Adam Hastings and his lover Reece Upton.

The pair, who had been living on a houseboat on the Kennet and Avon Canal opposite the West Berkshire Museum in Newbury, sparked a nationwide police manhunt last June after going on the run and living ‘off grid’ to avoid detection.

William Eagleston, prosecuting, told the court on Friday, January 31: “The defendants took advantage of (the child’s) vulnerabilities in order to perpetrate the abuse that they did.”

He said: “(The victim) was groomed by being given vapes, cannabis, energy drinks and cash.”

The abuse involved sex acts as well as penetrative sex.

On one occasion, the court heard, Hastings pushed the boy’s head down after he was persuaded to engage in a sex act on Reece.

He would be given up to £50 on occasion and told to keep quiet.

In one instance, said Mr Eaglestone, Hastings tried to persuade the boy to engage with a threesome with him and Reece but the child declined.

Nevertheless, the court heard, he reluctantly allowed himself to be abused in other ways, because he felt it would be “disrespectful” to his elders to refuse.

The boy eventually confided in an adult and told them that he was sore after the abuse and that Hastings had bad personal hygiene.

On occasions the boy would make excuses to try to avoid the abuse, said Mr Eaglestone or, when he felt obliged to indulge, would plead with Hastings to stop.

In a victim personal statement, the boy said he had lost confidence in himself, had trouble sleeping and replayed the abuse in his head “every day.”

When the abuse was discovered, said the boy, he had to undergo tests for sexually transmitted diseases, which he found additionally traumatising.

With discovery imminent, said Mr Eaglestone, the pair fled Newbury.

The pair were eventually found in woodland in Devizes by police using tracker dogs and drones, and with the help of intelligence from the public.

They had tried to avoid detection by forgoing the use of mobile phones and bank cards.

Both initially denied the allegations against them but on the day of trial Hastings pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts of breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

Upton meanwhile pleaded guilty to one count of sexual activity with a child.

Hastings has 29 previous convictions.

In addition, the court heard, Hastings had been caught with indecent images of children - but, instead of being charged, had merely been given a caution.

Mr Eagleston also told the court: “The local authority had obtained an injunction because of concerns but he breached that on multiple occasions.”

Upton meanwhile has a conviction for possessing a bladed article.

Derek Barry, for Hastings, said his client had himself suffered “atrocities” at the hands of his father as a child.

He had previously been sectioned under the mental health act and accepted responsibility for his actions, added Mr Barry.

Jonathan Mitchell, for 29-year-old Upton, said there was no clear pattern of offending and that his client had played a minor role in the offending.

Judge Jane Rowley told Hastings: “You lack any meaningful remorse and continue to minimise your responsibility.”

She sentenced him to nine years imprisonment but with an extended licence period - meaning he will not automatically be released halfway through that.

Upton, too, added Judge Rowley, had shown no remorse and presented a “high risk of serious harm to children.”

He was sentenced to four years imprisonment.

Both were made subject to SHPOs and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register.