A Pembroke man has been warned he is facing a jail sentence after a jury convicted him of indecently assaulting three young girls and a boy during the 1980s.

David Howson, 39, was found guilty of eight offences after a trial at Swansea crown court yesterday.

He was cleared of a further two charges by the jury, they could not agree verdicts for three more allegations.

After the convictions, Geraint Walters, prosecuting, said he would not press for a retrial and formal verdicts of not guilty were entered on those three charges.

The judge, Mr Justice John Griffith Williams, said he would sentence Howson, of Vetch Close, after a probation officer had prepared a report into his background.

All sentencing options were open, he said, and custody was "a real possibility."

Howson was granted bail to a secret address outside Pembrokeshire. Mr Justice Williams said he did not want any confrontations between Howson and "the other faction."

Howson had entered pleas of not guilty and denied any of the alleged incidents took place.

The jury heard that Howson was a teenager when he carried out his attacks.

He said complaints were not made at the time but last year one of the girls-now a woman in her early 30s-decided to apply to become a foster parent.

The process, added Mr Walters, resulted in the woman concluding that she ought to confront what had happened to her when she was a child.

Police inquiries uncovered three more people who told similar stories about what Howson had done to them when they were as young as four years of age.

Howson was arrested and during police interviews "adamantly" denied that any of the incidents had taken place.

10:07am Friday 9th May 2008

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