Former limo driver jailed for 24 years for grooming and sexually abusing teens

By Dave Higgens, Reporter15th August 202415th August 2024News EnglandChild Abuse, Courts / Justice, News England, Rape, Rotherham, Sexual Abuse

A former limousine driver who used his stretch Hummer to groom and sexually abuse teenage girls in Rotherham has been jailed for 24 years.

David Saynor, 77, plied his victims with alcohol after taking them out for rides in his limousine company vehicles before raping or sexually assaulting them, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.

The NCA said the girls, who were between 12 and 18, were sometimes collected from their school or care homes in his stretch Hummer and Saynor actively encouraged them to call him if they needed picking up from somewhere, often telling them to bring friends.

Sheffield Crown Court has heard how, on one occasion, the defendant took a girl of 12 or 13-years-old to his limousine storage yard where he raped her in an office building.

Another teenager was repeatedly abused when she was 14 and 15-years-old when she was picked-up in her school uniform with groups of other girls and given alcohol, cigarettes and money.

The NCA said Saynor (pictured), formerly of Rotherham and now of Mayall Court, Lincoln, raped the girl in the back of the limousine before threatening to hurt her family if she told anyone.

Saynor, who was offending in the late 2000 and early 2010s, was arrested as part of the NCA’s Operation Stovewood, which is the UK’s biggest investigation into child abuse, after numerous victims identified him.

He was found guilty of 15 charges relating to eight victims in July, the agency said.

NCA Senior Investigating Officer Stuart Cobb said: “Saynor preyed on vulnerable girls who continue to live with the effects of his abuse as adults.

“The victims showed extraordinary bravery in reporting what Saynor did, and I’m pleased that we were able to get justice for them.

“I hope Saynor’s imprisonment will bring the victims some closure.”

Operation Stovewood was set up in the wake of the Jay Report, which sent a shockwave across the nation in 2014 when it found that at least 1,400 girls were abused, trafficked and groomed by gangs of men of mainly Pakistani heritage in the town between 1997 and 2013.

Last Autumn, the NCA insisted “this does not mean we are walking away” as it announced that, from January, new allegations would be handled by South Yorkshire Police rather than Operation Stovewood.

The agency said it is “confident that we have done all we realistically can to identify those individuals who may have been victims”, saying it has identified more than 1,100 children involved in the exploitation between 1997 and 2013 – almost all girls.

The agency said it remains committed to seeing its current investigations through to the end of the criminal justice process, which is anticipated to continue into 2027.

A total of 36 people have so far been convicted as a result of the operation.

The NCA has said that Operation Stovewood is the single largest law enforcement operation of its kind ever undertaken in the UK and, at its height, had a staff of more than 200.

Previous estimates have put the cost of Operation Stovewood at around £90 million.

An NSPCC spokeswoman said: “It is very disturbing that Saynor used his position as a limousine driver to target, manipulate, groom and sexually abuse vulnerable girls, and used threats to try to maintain his control over them.

“The harmful impact of child sexual abuse can be profound and long-lasting if victims do not receive the support they need, so we urge anyone who has concerns a child is at risk of sexual abuse to report it.”

The spokeswoman said children can contact Childline on 0800 1111 and adults with concerns about a child can contact the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000 or email [email protected].