A FORMER scout master has been sentenced to four years in jail after he pleaded guilty to four counts of indecent assault on a boy under the age of 16 in the 1970s.

Kenneth William Thompson, 73 who lives in Monnow Way, Bettws, Newport, was sentenced at Newport Crown Court on Monday 18th August.

The offences took place on a number of summer trips to a farm in Rockfield, Monmouth in the mid 1970s and were reported by the victim in 2015.

While there were four counts, two represented numerous offences.

The abuse occurred when Thompson took the victim for weekend trips away by himself.

Matthew Roberts, prosecutor, told the court how Thompson used his position of trust with the victim and their mother to organise the trips away but they were only for one purpose.

Mr Roberts said the persistent and sustained abuse continued during the summer of 1973 and 1974.

Thompson was dismissed from the scouts in 1995 after concerns over his suitability to work with young boys.

In handing down his sentence, judge Daniel Williams noted the significant planning and the abuse of trust involved in the offences.

He said Thompson took the victim away in what their mother “thought as and act of kindness, but it was nothing of the kind”.

Thompson will serve half of his sentence in custody before being released, if he commits any further offences before his sentence is up he will be placed in custody for the remainder of the time.