Victims of Michael Costin face trial for pedophile Boy Scout leader, telling of harrowing sexual abuse

A paedophile who sexually abused young boys while leading scout groups in east London and Suffolk will be jailed for the third time in 30 years. Michael Costin terrorised 12 boys aged 10 by plying them with alcohol, masturbating them and performing oral sex, then bullying them to prevent them from revealing his secret in the 1980s and 1990s.

The 59-year-old predator was convicted of seven counts of sexual assault following a trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court in February this year, having already admitted 14 offences before appearing before a jury. During the trial, brazen Costin, formerly of Lincoln Avenue, Romford, claimed he took no pleasure in his crimes and said he abused children to ‘help them’.

Those traumatised victims filled the public gallery on Tuesday (July 23) and made a series of emotional statements describing the continuing impact of Costin’s abuse on their lives. The devastating effects included a loss of trust in men and authority, thoughts of suicide and self-harm, loss of education and employment, broken marriages, stunted social lives and difficult relationships with their own families.

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One of the four victims of the abuse at Rush Green in Romford in the 1980s died in 2000, but before his death he wrote a letter to his parents for the first time disclosing the abuse, in which he claimed he had been anally penetrated.

However, the Public Prosecution Service has not filed any charges of sodomy.

“Please don’t take the sexual abuse lightly as this is something that has haunted me almost every day of my life,” the victim wrote, adding: “In case you were wondering how far it went, it went all the way. But I’m ashamed to say I didn’t know it was wrong. Now that I’m older I know it was wrong and I would love to see that b*****d brought to justice.”

The victim’s father burst into tears as he spoke of the devastation he and his wife had suffered from losing their son and discovering the abuse.

“The person who can best explain the horrific consequences of Mick Costin’s abuse is sadly no longer with us, but he now has a voice,” said the victim’s father, as a police officer also began to cry.

The victim’s father added that it “means everything to us” to see Costin in the dock as a tearful policewoman hung her head in grief.

Another of Rush Green’s victims, who had received oral sex from Costin seven times, said it had a “catastrophic effect” on his life and that she “contemplated suicide.”

Another victim said: “My childhood was cruelly stolen from me by Mike Costin when he forced me to act out his sexual fantasies when I was 10. He told me that adults do this kind of thing and that he would tell my parents if I didn’t do what he said,” adding: “My deep wounds from my stolen childhood have been replayed through this case, and I have had to relive my darkest childhood memories.”

After describing how the crimes of Jimmy Savile, Rolf Harris and Gary Glitter came to light, he continued: “The pain, guilt, anger, frustration and unimaginable memories are what I have been dealing with for 40 years and that will not change until the day I die.”

Another victim, who was masturbated by Costin at age 15 at a scout camp, spoke of their guilt for not reporting him sooner.

They said Costin bullied them into “keeping quiet” and introduced them to alcohol, on which they became dependent.

During a later scouting trip in Suffolk in the 1990s, the victim saw Costin in his camper van with two young boys and wondered ‘if he was still at it’, but did not report the incident.

When the victim realized that Costin had been convicted of crimes around that time, he added, “My failure to talk about it has had a greater impact on me than the incident itself.”

‘Depths of Depravity’

Costin was also convicted of sex offences while serving with a Sea Scout group in Suffolk, some ten years after his time at Romford.

Costin left Romford in the mid-1980s for Coleraine University in Northern Ireland, before returning to England to complete his teaching qualification at the University of Exeter in 1986.

In 1987 he worked as a geography teacher at a school in Suffolk and led the local scout group.

Costin’s victims reported being masturbated or having their exposed genitals touched while they slept in a sleeping bag. One said he was licked in the ear.

After the trial, Costin was also convicted of sticking his thumb in a young boy’s anus.

The victim was still shocked by the sight of a VW van, like the one Costin used, and spoke of the “pain” they felt at being forced to testify.

Another victim who was abused at a scout camp near Ipswich, said they felt ‘some sympathy’ for Costin as he had led a ‘pretty sad’ life.

Another victim, who had been abused in similar circumstances, said Costin made them “question her humanity and the depth of her depravity.”

One man, who was 13 at the time of the abuse, said he struggled to maintain healthy relationships until he was 35, lost many jobs and was unable to sit in the front seat of a taxi because Costin touched him while driving.

“I regret losing my youth,” he added.

One victim, who was on medication for depression and suffered from anger issues, said: “I would wake up in the middle of the night with memories running through my head. I would also relive a nightmare where we committed a crime so I could be in the same prison as Costin and hurt him like he hurt me.”

“You will always be a danger”

Costin’s crimes first came to light when he was sentenced to two years in prison at Ipswich Crown Court in May 1996 for four indecent assaults on three Sea Scouts.

One of the witnesses who testified during that period said that he was not ready to speak openly about the abuse he had suffered from him, although he had already made a statement to the Met.

They spoke of the “mental scars” left by the abuse and accused Costin of using cannabis and alcohol to bury their memories.

He said his testimony was “used against him” when he attended the 1996 trial as a child.

He told Costin, “I truly believe that you will always be a danger to society and should spend the rest of your life in prison. You, Michael Costin, have proven that you will never change.”

Another victim, who courageously reported abuse in the 1990s, expressed frustration that his case was not heard at the time.

Prosecutor Walter Hornsby explained that the team in charge at the time had prioritised what they saw as other ‘more serious’ matters during the trial.

“I feel guilty and confused that he was allowed to continue doing this to other people,” the victim said.

The last victim also gave a statement during the investigation in the mid-1990s, but subsequently told police that Costin had touched his chest.

When asked to give evidence to a new investigation, led by Detective Constable James Howlett, the victim said the abuse actually consisted of touching his genitals.

Costin admitted touching the boy’s genitals, but he claimed it was in the context of a game where the child pretended to be a dog.

Mr Hornsby said there was evidence Costin had supplied alcohol and encouraged the use of cannabis, but the offences could not be directly linked to drink or drug use.

The case history

Costin was first convicted of four counts of indecent assault on a child under 16 at Ipswich Crown Court in May 1996. He was subsequently sentenced to two years in prison.

The offences were very similar to those dealt with at Snaresbrook District Court this year, but one also involved extensive abuse of one victim, lasting almost three years.

After his release from prison and in the years that followed, Costin recovered and became chairman of Millwall Rugby Club, where he also worked behind the bar.

But he came to the attention of Thames Valley Police when he was spotted repeatedly outside a school in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.

During a trial at Oxford Crown Court in 2011, it was found that the former teacher had sexually abused a boy and his girlfriend in Abingdon and attempted to masturbate a boy in his camper van converted into an ambulance outside Millwall Rugby Club between 2007 and 2010.

Costin was given an indeterminate sentence to protect public order, with a minimum of four years before being eligible for parole.

Although the IPP penalties have been abolished and may be repealed by the new government, the penalties will remain in place until the law is changed.

That means that despite serving the minimum sentence, Costin has only been released for about a day a handful of times since he was locked up more than a decade ago, Mr Hornsby told the court.

It also means Costin will not receive any punishment for time already served since he was charged.

According to previous news reports, allegations about Costin were first raised by parents at the school in 1993, but an investigation found no irregularities and no one was arrested.

In February 1994, parents filed another complaint against Costin, alleging that he had given their sons drugs, but a new investigation found that there was not enough evidence to prosecute.

Costin was eventually arrested in early 1995 after his parents spoke to a senior drug squad officer who was giving a talk at the school, and a further investigation was launched, the East Anglian Times reported.

This time the Met processed huge quantities of material and made enquiries in Essex, Suffolk and Northern Ireland.

The victims came forward between 2017 and 2023, telling horrific stories of abuse they suffered at the hands of Costin.

Detectives established that Costin abused three victims in Rush Green between 1982 and 1986, and then a further nine victims in and around Suffolk between 1989 and 1994.

Costin manipulated his victims, who told harrowing stories of being sexually abused while sleeping in camps, receiving “love letters” from their abusers, and being forced to perform sexual acts.

The court will hear the defence before Judge Alex Gordon delivers sentence on Wednesday (July 23).

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