Rape victim's ordeal at hands of ex-nurse

Ex-nurse Andrew Wright, of Wesham, was convicted of sexually abusing young boys at Preston Crown Court

Former Devonshire Road Hospital worker Andrew Wright (pictured), 55, of Mowbreck Court, Wesham, was seen by many as a churchgoing pillar of the community who had worked as a nurse for nearly 30 years.

He had also volunteered at a toddler group and attended church.

But over the years he had carried out a string of horrific rapes and assaults on two youngsters.

One of his victims, a man who cannot be named for legal reasons, has spoken of his fear Wright, a trained psychiatric nurse who spent nearly three decades working with vulnerable people, could have targeted others.

He said: “I was aged seven when he attacked me.

“He told me: ‘It’s a secret, you can’t tell anyone.

“I made a report when I heard others had come forward because of this reason.”

He added he had to give up a career working with children and later was diagnosed with depression due to the effect of Wright’s actions.

He said: “I realise 17 years is a good sentence but it means he could be out in less than nine years, free to walk the streets.”

Unmarried Wright, believed to have fathered six children with different partners, admitted 10 counts of raping a boy, one of gross indecency with a boy, and nine counts of indecent assault.

Other similar counts, some involving a third child, were ordered to lie on file by Judge Stuart Baker.

The sentence comes two years since the first victim came forward to report him in February 2014.

Wright worked for Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, first at the Devonshire Road hospital in Blackpool and then in Lytham when the site closed and retired around six years ago.

His previous employers at the Trust said he had not worked there since 2009, which was before he was being investigated by police.

A relative of one of the boys previously told The Gazette: “He abused people’s trust - he betrayed people. It has affected (the victim) very badly.

“He deprived them of their innocence and childhood by abusing them at such an early age.

“He had to have counselling and therapy.

“He carried it alone for all those years.

“Words can’t describe how we feel.”