SUSPENDED SENTENCE FOR BARBER WHO RAPED BOY OVER 20 YEARS AGO

36-year-old Joe Collins has been handed an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for 20 months, for the rape of a boy over 20 years ago. The well-known Newport barber, of Atherley Road in Shanklin, denied the offence but was found guilty by a jury back in November. Collins – now a father – carried out the rape between September 1998 and April 2003 when he was aged between just 12 and 17. The victim was a boy aged under 16. As a grown man, he reported the matter to Police in 2022. The case was adjourned to today’s date for sentencing, with Miss Recorder Elisabeth Bussey-Jones handing down a suspended sentence, taking into account that Collins was a child himself when the offending took place. Joe Collins has been ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register and complete 30 rehabilitation days and 150 hours of unpaid work. He must pay £2,000 costs.