Former EFL assistant referee jailed for sex offences against girls

A former English Football League assistant referee was jailed on Thursday after admitting a string of child sex offences involving three 15-year-old girls. Gareth Viccars, 47, of Milton Keynes, was sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court to 13 years and six months in prison, with a further three and a half years on extended licence, after pleading guilty to 16 counts spanning November 2021 to October 2024. The offences took place in multiple areas including Huntingdon, London and Northamptonshire, the court heard.

Prosecutors said Viccars used the messaging app Snapchat to initiate contact with the girls, grooming them online before arranging in-person meetings. In one case he met a girl in a supermarket car park in Huntingdon in December 2023 and sexually assaulted her in his car, then assaulted her again several days later in a different car park. The victim noted the registration of a white Mercedes, which assisted investigators after her school reported the incidents in June 2024. Viccars also abused two other teenage girls in London and Northamptonshire, the court was told.

Evidence read to the court included voice messages in which Viccars referred to a victim as "little...