Paedophile who pretended to be disabled to dodge court jailed for 15 years

A paedophile who pretended to be mute and wheelchair-bound in a bid to evade prosecution has been jailed for 15 years after his ‘not-so-covert double life’ was finally rumbled.

John Siddell, 41, convinced psychiatrists he was unfit to take part in a criminal trial by fabricating a severe illness while being investigated over sexual offences against three young boys between 2018 and 2021.

He ‘presented as wheelchair-bound, refused to open his eyes and was unable to hold his own head up’, prosecutor Claudia James told Leicester Crown Court.

But she told the court Siddell and his 44-year-old brother James’s ‘busy social lives in part unravelled their deception, as documented by social media, photos taken on their phones and their own home CCTV’.

John Siddell was recorded attending Elvis Presley nights at a social club, going to watch a Newcastle United match and walking around unaided.

He also took selfies in which he was able to smile and pose with his head up and eyes open, and in one photo was drinking a pint of Guinness.

One clip even caught him using his wheelchair like a ‘trolley’ to move household items over a mile in June 2022.

A statement provided by someone who cared for him in hospital in July 2024 said he was ‘the most verbal non-verbal person I have ever seen’.

After being charged with perverting the course of justice, the defendants did not attend a plea hearing in July last year, when it was claimed that John Siddell had suffered a seizure and was taken to hospital.

In September, he pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, five counts of sexual assault, one count of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, and four counts of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

Both brothers admitted perverting the course of justice between November 2021 and August 2025.

In his sentencing remarks, Judge Keith Raynor said the brothers’ behaviour was ‘scheming and devious’.

He said: ‘They misrepresented John Siddell’s mental and physical abilities, the behaviour of both of them entirely corrupting and undermining the course of justice.’

A statement read to court on behalf of the victims, who cannot be identified, said they are ‘still dealing with the effects of the abuse’.

The brothers, of Ashington, Northumberland, did not attend their sentencing hearing on Tuesday.

Defending John Siddell, Jamie Adams said the defendant is a ‘very vulnerable and disadvantaged human being’ who has been diagnosed with epilepsy, autism and learning disabilities.

Mr Adams added that Siddell’s relatives have ‘exaggerated John’s ill-health throughout his life to get some financial benefit’.

James Siddell’s barrister, Nicholas Peacock, told the court his client was in a ‘generationally dysfunctional family who largely survived on the benefits system’.

Nicola Potts, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: ‘While much of the attention in this case will be the lies and antics of the Siddell brothers, at the heart of this are three sexual abuse victims who had their childhood snatched from them by John Siddell’s cruel manipulation.

‘His cynical lies and the support he received from James was a further insult to these victims.’

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