Judge's compassionate words for 'misguided' Northampton mother who helped son's predatory relationship with teenage girl

A Northampton mother who helped her son carry on with a predatory relationship with a teenage girl has been spared jail.

Sexual predator Matthew Addington was jailed in August for targeting two girls and pulling them into manipulative relationships that isolated them from their family and friends.

But at Northampton Crown Court on Friday (October 2), the 19-year-old's mother Jackie Simpson (aka. Addington) was also sentenced for her part in assisting her son prey on the girls.

It included helping her son and one of his victims swap letters while he was in prison - even after he was served a Child Abduction Warning Notice by the police ordering him not to speak to any under the age of 18 again.

It comes after the mother of one of the girls was also sentenced last week for allowing her daughter to meet up with the 19-year-old abuser at a hotel after he was released from prison.

In that hearing on September 24, Her Honour Judge Adrienne Lucking reprimanded the mother for not seeing that her daughter was in "an emotionally and sexually inappropriate relationship".

But at Simpson's hearing yesterday, Judge Lucking used her sentencing to offer some compassionate words for the 43-year-old.

The judge said: "As a parent you are expected to protect your child. I accept you have faced some exceptionally difficulties [with Addington's behaviour] - I recognise that there have not only been years of difficulties but that they are likely to continue.

"You are now trying to make a life for your family living with you now.

"I accept [your barrister's] submissions that you in effect didn't know what to do for the best, and you made a very bad decision.

"You should have known the best course of action was to ask for help from social services or the police.

"But you made a very bad choice out of misguided loyalty."

The court also heard that Simpson co-operated with police about her involvement and helped with their investigation against Addington.

Judge Lucking said: "You are clearly very remorseful.

"Where people breach these orders, the norm is an immediate custodial sentence.

"Don't let anything like this happen again."

Simpson - formerly of Somerset Drive, Duston - was handed a 16-month sentence suspended for two years, and will also complete 80 hours of unpaid work.

Matthew Addington - who in previous hearings has been described as "violent" and "emotionally abusive" - was locked up in August 2020 to 31 months in a youth detention centre after pleading guilty to his offences.