And they call this justice

HE is a child predator who tried to snatch a 13-year-old from a bus stop. But abductor Terry Delaney escaped being placed on the Sex Offenders' Register, causing an outcry heard at the heart of Government.

While The Press fights to close the legal loophole which would allow Delaney to mix with children on his release, we can today reveal the authorities have turned down an opportunity to get his name on the register - without the need for a change in the law.

The Press has learned that 52-year-old Delaney had struck before he tried to abduct Natalie Hick from an Acomb bus stop last October - but no action was taken against him because of a "lack of evidence".

Police inquiries began into Delaney's behaviour after he stroked a little girl's hair and made suggestive comments - two months before he tried to kidnap Natalie.

The mother of the four-year-old victim has come forward to tell of the terrifying moment when Delaney leaned over her daughter and said: "What I could do with you."

But the Crown Prosecution Service, which reviewed the case, said there was only evidence to charge Delaney with disorderly behaviour, a minor offence which carries only a fine.

Sara Payne's charity Phoenix Survivor, which has joined forces with The Press to campaign for a new law of stranger abduction, pressed for Delaney to be charged with a more serious offence.

Our Change IT! campaign calls on Home Secretary John Reid to create a new law of stranger abduction, so that where courts can prove sexual intent, judges can make banning orders and put attempted or actual child snatchers on the register.

Shy Keenan, chief advocate for the charity, said Delaney should have faced an offence involving indecent behaviour, which would have allowed him to be put on the Sex Offenders' Register if he was convicted, even before any new law was brought in.

The Crown Prosecution Service decided there was no new evidence to support bringing a more serious charge against Delaney.

Shy said: "It was in the public interest to see this man prosecuted for lewd behaviour in order to protect other children in the future. We had urged for a prosecution to ensure that Delaney was placed on the Sex Offenders' Register."

Shelley Meek revealed how 52-year-old Nestl worker Delaney - who was jailed for four years for trying to snatch Natalie - stroked her four-year-old daughter Chelsea's hair, making her cry.

She backed The Press campaign for a stranger abduction law, adding: "I'm scared about what might happen when he is released."

Delaney's case was put in sharper contrast when a 29-year-old woman WAS placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for giving a 14-year-old boy a boozy kiss.

Kerry Husband was convicted after kissing the boy outsider her garden gate, in Acomb, following a drinking binge. She was prosecuted for having "sexual activity with a child under 16".

Husband was warned to "keep off young boys in future" and will stay on the register for five years, yet Delaney's terrifying attack has left him free to approach youngsters on his release.

Shelley, 27, said the "failure to act" when Delaney approached her daughter was "a missed opportunity".

She said she had been frightened at Delaney's boldness in targeting Chelsea, now five, right in front of her at the Blockbuster store in Acomb last August 1.

The mum-of-four said: "It was the summer holidays so I was taking three of my children to the video shop to hire a DVD. But when we got there, there was a horrible drunk man shouting abuse at staff, so I took the children to the other end of store.

"I'd never seen him before - but he was carrying on about nothing and anyone would have a bad feeling about him."

After the children had selected their DVD and Shelley went to the counter to pay, Delaney, who was still in the shop, came over. Shelley, of Lindsey Avenue, Acomb, who also had one-year-old son, Jacob, in a pushchair and daughter Danielle, 11, standing nearby, said: "He came up to me, leaned over and looked at Chelsea, and said: 'Oh, what I could do with you'.

"I pulled her away from him. But he still stood there, and then he bent down and stroked her hair. And he said: 'How much I would pay for you.'

"I couldn't believe it. I was so shocked. But I just shouted 'Get off her,' and I grabbed his hand and pulled it off her head.

"Chelsea had started to cry, but the man moved away to the other side of the counter, and started to say something else so I shouted, 'Shut up. I don't want to hear it.'

"Then I just got all the kids and went outside to get them away from him. We went straight home and as soon as I got there I called the police."

Officers took a full statement from the divorcee, who has another daughter Megan, eight, and then interviewed two members of staff at the store.

She said: "I didn't hear anything for ages, but then I found out Delaney had tried to abduct a girl at a bus stop in October and I was asked to be a prosecution witness in that trial, to talk about what he said to Chelsea.

"I waited at the court for ages, but was then told the jury wouldn't be hearing my evidence.

"It is a missed opportunity. There have been two separate cases and he broke the law in both cases. How many times will it take?"

Delaney was jailed for four years in April for the attempted kidnap of Natalie Hick, but he could not be put on the Sex Offenders' Register or banned from working with children because of a loophole in the law.

Judge Paul Hoffman, sentencing Delaney, said: "It makes no sense to me. It is obviously an anomaly."

Shelley was horrified when she realised what might have happened to Chelsea, if she had not been there to protect her.

"It is frightening to think Delaney tried to grab a girl, after what he said to Chelsea," she said.

"What happens when he is released from prison and is free to walk about where children are? I'm convinced he'll try and do something like this again."

She added: "I can't believe he is not on the Sex Offenders' Register, so he can be monitored and prevented from mixing with kids. It just sickens me that there are people out there who want to do harm to children."

June Hick, mum of Natalie, said: "I had hoped this would be the thing that allowed Delaney to be put on the Sex Offenders' Register.

"I don't understand how, knowing of the loophole which prevents Delaney going on the register for attempted child abduction, they had the chance to prosecute him for something else which could put him on the register, and didn't take it.

"I'm worried about when Delaney comes out of prison - because he is that way inclined - but unless he is put on the register, he can't be monitored."

CPS: Why no action was taken

THE Crown Prosecution Service said the case "relating to an incident at a shop in August 2005" had originally been put on hold "pending the proceedings against Delaney for child abduction", and was reviewed after he was jailed.

A spokeswoman said: "All decisions to prosecute are made by applying the Code for Crown Prosecutors which requires that there is enough evidence to prove a charge beyond reasonable doubt and, if this is the case, that it is in the public interest to proceed.

"There is enough evidence to charge Mr Delaney with disorderly behaviour and, as no new evidence has come to light which could show that an alternative charge is appropriate, the decision to charge this offence was upheld.

"However, as disorderly behaviour does not carry a custodial sentence, we have decided it is not in the public interest to prosecute."

But Shy Keenan, who is campaigning with The Press to change the law and place child abductors on the Sex Offenders' Register, said: "For the CPS to disregard the mother's evidence is discriminatory, to say the least.

"It is in the public interest to see this man brought back to court, and the fact he has tried to abduct a child shows what a danger he poses."

Detective Constable Craig Wilson, of York CID, said: "We are aware of the incident involving the four-year-old girl, which was investigated by officers, and information was passed on to the Crown Prosecution Service.

"We have to consult with the CPS in every case where we want to charge and they decide what action should be taken."

Drunken kiss puts woman on register

"KEEP off young boys in future," York's top judge advised the woman who went on the sex offenders' register for giving a teenager a boozy kiss.

Kerry Husband, 29, had drunk eight or nine shots of vodka before giving the 14-year-old boy a smacker on the lips outside her garden gate, York Crown Court heard.

She was prosecuted for having "sexual activity with a child under 16" and convicted after a trial.

"It doesn't have to be a custodial sentence," the Recorder of York, Judge Paul Hoffman, told her. "Show a bit of enthusiasm for not going to prison, for goodness sake." When she gave a little smile, he added: "That's better."

He gave her a two-year community order with supervision aimed at tackling her drink problem and improving her thinking skills and victim awareness. The sentence puts her on the sex offenders' register for five years.

Husband, formerly of Hessay Place, Acomb, had denied the charge. She was remanded in custody on a separate charge of actual bodily harm. She will be sentenced at York Magistrates Court on June 2 and could receive a jail term.

The boy had accused Husband of a more serious sexual offence as well as the kiss.

The boy's friend, a 13-year-old girl, also made an accusation of false imprisonment and claimed she had been sexually attacked in Husband's home.

Husband denied both charges. After hearing from both teenagers, their friends as well as the defendant, the jury at York Crown Court acquitted Husband of all other charges except that for which she was convicted.

Updated: 09:42 Tuesday, May 23, 2006