A CONVICTED child abuser who was caught looking up schoolgirls' skirts in a busy Belfast supermarket has been given a suspended sentence. Robert John Liddle, from Moorlough Road in Lisnaskea, Co Fermanagh, admitted committing an act of a "lewd, obscene and disgusting nature and outraging public decency" on February 25 last year. However, his sentencing had been deferred until yesterday so he could continue with a treatment programme.
Liddle was given a two-month sentence, which was suspended for two years. The 66-year-old - who has been described in the past as a high-risk offender and who has convictions for abusing children - was told five months ago that if he
completed the probation programme, he would be given a suspended sentence. The pensioner was also warned that if he failed to comply with the programme, or committed any further offending within the five-month deferral period, he would be sent to jail. Duting the previous hearing at Downpatrick Crown Court, a prosecutor told the court that Liddle's behaviour at the Tesco store in the Newtownbreda area of south Belfast roused the suspicions of security staff. He was observed tracking a group of schoolgirls who walked past him in their uniforms.
Liddle was captured on CCTV trying to look up the skirts of two of the teenagers as they walked up a flight of stairs. Security staff alerted police and Liddle was arrested.