Friends jailed after ‘vile’ sex campaign in Blackpool

Two friends have been jailed after being convicted of a string of historic sex offences.
Ex-leisure worker Harry Anthony Collier, 63, of Mythop Road, South Shore, was caged for 23 years after being convicted of four rapes and 14 indecent assaults, a court official said.
And Paul Snedker, of no fixed address, was locked up for 18 years after being convicted of two rapes and an indecent assault, the official added.
Both were convicted by jurors after a trial at Preston Crown Court, which related to attacks in the ‘70s and ‘80s on two girls and a woman.
Collier indecently assaulted his first victim when she was between four and nine, the trial heard.
He went on to rape a woman in Blackpool in 1988, and carried out a campaign of rape and abuse of a second child – who he also helped Snedker to attack.
The trial was told one girl was given cider, or white pills – which the court heard ‘burnt the back of her throat but also relaxed her’ – before being taken to a bedroom and abused, while others would be present.
Both men were also given indefinite Sexual Offences Prevention Orders (SOPOs) and indefinite notification orders.
After his eventual release, Collier will serve another two years on licence, while Snedker will serve another one.