Murderer back behind bars for sex offences on children as young as two

A convicted murderer and former Hertfordshire resident is back behind bars after being jailed for 17 years for eight counts of historic sex offences.

John Dickinson, 66, had spent 34 years in prison for the murder of Susan Lowson in Stevenage back in 1980.

Dickinson, of Kennington Park Road, London, appeared for sentencing at Cambridge Crown Court this week for eight offences of sexual abuse on two children under the age of 14.

The offences were committed in Stevenage between 1973 and 1977 and started when the children were just two and four years old. They came to light in 2017 when one of the victims disclosed the abuse she had suffered as a young child to the police.

During the eight-day trial, reference was also made to Dickinson’s previous convictions, including the murder of Susan Lowson in 1980 and subsequent arson at her flat. Dickinson was sentenced to life imprisonment for this crime and was released on licence in 2014.

In February 2019 he was arrested by the Metropolitan Police in connection with a firearms offence and recalled back to prison. He has also received an additional one year sentence for this bringing the total to 18 years in prison.

Dickinson will be on the sex offenders’ register for life and has also been issued with asexual harm prevention order.