Lee Begbie sentenced to 19 years in prison for raping a boy in Attleborough

A man who raped a teenager three times in a Norfolk town after befriending him in a shop has been sentenced to 19 years in prison.

Lee Begbie, 71, from Fryup, near Whitby in North Yorkshire, was sentenced at Teesside Crown Court on Monday after the court heard the boy was attacked in Attleborough between January and October 2003.

The victim went to police in 2019 and Begbie was charged with three counts of sodomy with a child under 16 in 2021.

Investigating officer Det Sgt Matt Hendry of Norfolk Police praised the victim for his bravery in giving evidence and said he had protected people from a “dangerous offender”.

Begbie was found guilty after a week-long trial.

The court heard that the boy was raped after Begbie befriended him in a shop and then lured him to his home by inviting him to look at his car before attacking him, police said.

In a personal statement, the victim reported that she felt “numb and frightened” for years afterwards.

“Before I went public, I had already planned how I would end my life,” he said.

“The crimes committed against me directly led to me no longer being able to deal with the emotions, which ultimately led to the failure of my marriage.

“I missed many of my own children growing up because I wasn’t there for them emotionally and couldn’t support them as much as I would have liked.”

Det Sgt Hendry added: “This sentence goes some way to reflecting the seriousness and gravity of Begbie’s offending and the significant impact it has had on the victim and his wider family.”

“I hope that this verdict will help him in his recovery and help him come to terms with what happened.”

The judge sentenced Begbie to nine years in prison for the first rape, nine years and six months concurrently for the second offence and ten years concurrently for the third assault.