A PAEDOPHILE who sparked a nationwide manhunt when he abducted a 12-year-old Blackburn schoolboy was today awaiting a long prison sentence after being convicted of eight charges of indecency against the boy and two of his friends.

James Warke, 36, who has a 20-year history of sex offences, was yesterday remanded in custody after being found guilty of a string of charges following a trial at Carlisle Crown Court and will be sentenced when probation service and psychiatric reports have been prepared.

But Judge Peter Openshaw QC warned Warke: "You are an exceptionally dangerous man from whom the public must be protected by a very lengthy prison sentence."

The parents of the 12-year-old boy spoke of their relief at the verdicts today and said: "Our nightmare is almost over."

The boy's stepmother, who travelled to Carlisle to support the child as he gave evidence against Warke, said: "I am relieved by the conviction and I think my stepson is relieved too. A big smile came on his face when I told him.

"I never came face-to-face with Warke because I never actually went into the court, but I'm glad because I'm already trying to come to terms with all of this.

"We're just waiting for the sentence now and that will be the end for us. Our nightmare is nearly over. It has been an ordeal for us all."

Following the verdicts it emerged that Warke, who is originally from Northern Ireland, has a string of previous convictions for sex offences against boys, dating back to when he was just 15-years-old.

And even his own barrister Philip Wakeham admitted: "He is a man who is likely to represent for some time a threat to children." It was revealed that Warke was jailed for three years in 1996 after admitting he abducted two teenagers from an amusement arcade in Blackpool, keeping them away from their families for nine days and sexually assaulting them.

It is believed Warke, known as Jimbo, was forced to flee Northern Ireland when local people discovered he was a paedophile.

A wide-ranging enquiry set up in the wake of the abduction in May has given all the agencies involved a clean bill of health.

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