Co Antrim horse breeder who was jailed for sex abuse wins right to see his son

Court Report

Senior judges confirmed 43-year-old Michael Beattie must remain subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) because of the “predatory” way he targeted the victim.

But they amended the terms to a ban on any access with young girls so that he can be visited by his son in prison.

Beattie, from Bresagh Road in Lisburn, Co Antrim, is currently serving a four-year sentence for grooming and abusing the 15-year-old girl over a four-month period at his stables.

He allegedly told her that he would leave his wife and eventually wanted people to know about them but not at that stage because she was too young. Police were alerted after a friend of the victim saw the pair kissing in March 2019.

Beattie initially denied the charges, insisting to police that he was a married man.

But at the start of his trial last year he pleaded guilty to six counts of sexual activity with a child aged 13 to 16 and two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

He was ordered to serve two years in custody and a further two years on licence.

A five-year SOPO which formed part of the sentence included prohibitions on contact with either the victim, who is now aged over 18, or children under 16 of either gender.

Beattie, who cannot be released from jail before May next year, appealed against both the decision to impose the Order and the extent of its terms.

Although his wife is standing by him, the court heard that the SOPO prevents supervised contact with his son in prison.

Setting out how Beattie’s offending involved impulsive risk taking and exploiting a position of power and trust, Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan also cited the serious harm he caused the victim. She rejected claims that it had been wrong to subject him to a SOPO.

“Given the predatory nature of the offending this was an order that was justified and necessary for the purpose of protecting members of the public from serious sexual harm,” Dame Siobhan said.

Based on probation assessments, however, the court determined Beattie is not a threat to his own son or male children.

Any danger he poses is instead directed towards girls in a defined age range.

“The breadth of the order as originally framed clearly infringes on the appellant’s family life in a way that is disproportionate to the risk that he can be found to pose to children,” the Lady Chief Justice stated.

“This is illustrated by the ongoing prohibition upon the appellant seeing his son which to our mind needs to be rescinded immediately by the prison authorities.”

Beattie’s disqualification from working with children was identified as providing extra protection.

Imposing a substitute five-year SOPO held to be necessary and proportionate, Dame Siobhan ruled: “The appellant is prohibited from having any (unapproved) unsupervised access, association, contact or communication with female children between the age of 11 and 16 years.”

She also confirmed that Beattie remains barred from having anything to do with the victim, and must also allow police access to his home to ensure compliance with the SOPO.