UK couple jailed for raping, drugging children with crack cocaine

Nicholas Taylor made one young boy stand in front of a dartboard and fired darts and a crossbow at him. Photo / Police handout

A husband and wife who drugged children with crack cocaine and shot a boy with a crossbow have been jailed after being convicted of 94 drug and child sex offences.

Nicholas Taylor, 47, and his wife Joan, 44, subjected 11 children to a decade-long sickening campaign of abuse and horrific torture at their home in Northampton.

Nicholas Taylor was handed a life sentence and will be in prison for 18 years after being found guilty of 62 charges.

He gave a thumbs-up from the dock and said "Yeah, spot on" as he was sent down. His wife walked towards cells without showing any emotion.

Joan Taylor was found guilty of 22 offences - including rape, indecency with a child and supply of class A drugs - and also sentenced to 18 years.

Both had pleaded guilty to other offences before the trial began at Leicester Crown Court in February.

During the trial prosecutor David Herbert QC said Nicholas fired a crossbow at one of his victims and made him stand in front of a dartboard at their home.

Jurors were told one girl was injected with amphetamines to get her hooked and then driven to a layby to perform sex acts on a man.

Another boy was made to carry out sex acts on Nicholas and Joan in return for crack cocaine.

When police raided their home in Northampton they also found under a bed a baseball bat inscribed with the words "The Pain" that they used to threaten victims.

Sentencing them, Judge Nicholas Dean QC said: "You [Nicholas Taylor] caused children to become addicted to drugs and you used their bodies for your pleasure.

"In truth your behaviour stems from craven lack of any moral compass and your depraved appetite for drugs and sexual gratification.

"You raped children. You are an intelligent man, but a monster.

Police released shocking images which showed the living conditions inside their home in Northampton. Photo / Police handout

"I have looked to see whether you have any redeeming characteristics, whether there might be any prospect that you will ever be anything better than a monster. I see no good in you, I see no prospect of you changing."

He said Taylor had not "a shred of remorse".

The judge said: "The jury heard evidence to the effect that to the outside world you were, in the indictment period, portraying yourself as a reformed character, someone who had experienced the depravity of the drugs world and had emerged rehabilitated.

"In fact, at the same time, you were depriving and corrupting young people with drugs and abusing them sexually."

He added: "You are a very, very dangerous man."

Addressing Joan Taylor, he said: "You, despite your not guilty pleas, have shown remorse for your behaviour."

The judge said the actions of Nicholas and Joan Taylor had a devastating effect on the lives of their victims.

One victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court: "A few years ago I tried to kill myself.

"I wanted to die because of what he [Nicholas Taylor] has done to me. What happened was a long time ago but it still feels so raw."

Staring at Taylor - who was slouched in the dock stroking his beard throughout the tearful statement - the woman, now in her 30s, said: "I would have been a different person if it had not been for him.

"What happened is there every day. I don't have to think back to it, I live it every day.

"I'm not going to have any children because I don't want to bring them into the world I live in."

The crimes involved boys and girls as young as 11, between 1996 and 2006. The 11 victims were aged 16 or under.

Isabella Forshall, mitigating for Nicholas Taylor, said: "As bad as this case is, it's not one of the very worst."

Emily Culverhouse, for Joan Taylor, said: 'When Nick was not around, Joan was a different person.

"She was under Nick's control at all times. She was controlled by both drugs and violence.

"This offending - in my submission - would not have occurred had it not been for him."

A National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children spokesman said: "The sheer number of sickening crimes committed by this couple is truly horrific.

"Both Nicholas and Joan Taylor used and abused children for their own twisted pleasure and their sickening actions will have had hugely damaging effects on their many young victims.

"An utterly vile aspect of this case is that they introduced vulnerable children to drugs and then forced them to commit sexual acts.

"Their victims' bravery in speaking out has helped bring this couple to justice and we hope they are receiving all possible support to rebuild their lives."