Moment ‘evil’ paedophile lies to police after throwing boy off 100ft Brighton cliff as he is found guilty
Anthony Stocks hatched an ‘evil’ plan to take a victim to a Chelsea match before killing him so he could continue his offending against a girl
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This is the moment a paedophile lies to police saying his victim, a young boy, ran and fell after he threw him down a 100ft cliff onto concrete when he tried to stop him from sexually abusing his sister.
Anthony Stocks, 54, was captured on police bodycam footage telling officers he shouted at the boy to stop running close to the edge when in fact he had hurled him over a cliff at Ovingdean, near Brighton.
The boy fell around 100 feet to the concrete floor beneath.
He sustained extensive serious injuries but miraculously survived, although he can’t remember the plunge.
In the aftermath, as crowds gathered, Stocks, of Icieni Close, Goring-on-Thames, went to pretend to help the boy. He can be seen trying to convince Sussex Police officers that the fall was an accident.
He lies to officers in bodycam footage telling them: “So he started running and I said ‘don’t go near that cliff’.
“He goes over the fence and just goes over.”
The officer presses him: “So he was just walking?”
But Stocks lies: “No, he was running.”
A joint operation by Thames Valley Police and Sussex Police found that Anthony Stocks had hatched a plan to kill the young Chelsea fan who had tried to stop him from offending against his sister.
Stocks had previously taken the boy to a quarry in Oxfordshire with a plan to push him off the edge, but changed his mind.
But on 24 September 2022, Stocks took the child to a Brighton football match against Chelsea with a mind to finally succeed with his “evil” plan.
It took two months of police investigation to unravel his lies and arrest Stocks at a home in east Oxfordshire on 23 November 2022.
On Thursday he was found guilty by unanimous jury verdict of four counts of sexual assault of a child under 13 and one count each of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, rape and attempted murder.
The joint investigation between Thames Valley Police and Sussex Police found that between 2019 and 2022 he subjected a young girl to rape and multiple sexual assaults at the home in east Oxfordshire.
The boy had attempted to get in between Stocks and the unnamed girl to stop the abuse and it was then that Stocks hatched his sordid plan to kill.
He took the boy to a quarry nearby in east Oxfordshire with the idea of pushing him over the cliff edge before backing down.
But later in the same year, Stocks took the boy to see Chelsea Football Club before heading to Brighton and the cliff side at Ovingdean.
He had told the girl he was planning to push him from the cliff.
An eye-witness was walking with a friend towards the cliff stairwell when he saw the boy and the defendant walking on the grass verge and heading towards the top of the cliffs.
“The boy had his hands out as if he was balancing; he seemed to be having fun,” said the prosecutor. “The defendant was walking behind him and was matching his pace.”
The prosecutor added that Stocks did not run away from the scene but had instead joined the various members of the public that came to the child’s aid, the jury heard.
“The defendant spoke to a number of people at the scene, civilians and members of the emergency services.” Jurors heard he rolled a cigarette and looked at his phone.
The court heard the child’s injuries were very serious, including several deep lacerations to his scalp, abrasions to his chest, multiple bruises, multiple fractures to his left arm, and deformity to his left shoulder.
The Deputy Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Sergeant Rachel Jackson of Thames Valley Police’s Child Abuse Investigation Unit, said: “These were absolutely horrific and evil offences committed by Anthony Stocks.
“Over a period of around three years, Stocks had subjected the girl to sexual abuse and rape, and when the boy became aware of what was happening, Stocks hatched his evil plan to kill him.
“What then transpired is nothing short of horrifying. He won the boy’s trust, taking him to see Chelsea’s football stadium, as the boy was passionate about football, and particularly Chelsea FC.
“From there, he asked the boy if he wanted to go to the seaside.
“The boy could have had no idea what Stocks had planned to do.
“Stocks took the boy to a set of cliffs in the area and pushed or threw him from the top, knowing that this would have almost certainly killed him.
“He is a very dangerous individual, who had no thought about anybody but himself, to protect himself from prosecution by removing the boy from the equation.
“He has not shown any remorse throughout the course of this investigation.
“I would like to praise both victims for their unbelievable courage and resolve that helped us to bring Stocks to justice.
“They showed immense maturity and clarity, both in their interviews with police and at court, about what had happened to them.
“It’s because of this truly inspirational courage that Stocks has now been brought to justice and will be sent to prison for a long time.
“This is without a doubt one of the worst cases of child abuse that I have investigated.”
Detective Constable Vicki Blythe, said: “Anthony Stocks’ calculated offending betrayed the trust of two young people, who must now live with the impact of his crimes for the rest of their lives.
“Both of his victims have shown remarkable courage and determination to support this investigation through to its conclusion. I would like to thank them both for helping us bring Stocks to justice.
“The events of 24 September, 2022, was alarming for residents of Ovingdean and the wider community. It was a miracle it did not end in more tragic circumstances, and I would also like to thank all of those who came forward with information and messages of support.”