A MAN who groomed and sexually assaulted two young teenagers more than 30 years ago has been jailed.

Michael Murphy, from The Haulgh, was brought to justice after one of his victims was encouraged to contact the police following the Jimmy Savile sex abuse revelations.

Jailing him for three years, Judge Denis Watson said that after meeting the 13-year-old boys by chance close to the Stag pub in Orrell, Wigan, where he used to drink, he then lured them to return to his home with the promise of “pop and crisps”.

The boys, one of whom died three years later in a traffic accident, did return and he took them to a secluded area where he sexually abused them.

On other occasions he “rewarded” them by allowing them to keep money which dropped to the ground when he took down his trousers, said Peter Barr, prosecuting.

The 10 offences of sexual assault, which Murphy admitted, took place over a three-month period in the early 1980s.

Some offences occurred at his home which was then in Pinehurst Crescent, Orrell.

He told them it was “their secret” as otherwise they would get in trouble and the boys never spoke about it.

When the Jimmy Savile offences came to light in the media, the surviving victim decided to contact the police, said Mr Barr.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that since the offences 62-year-old Murphy, of Wesley Mews, The Haulgh, has twice been sentenced for abusing other boys in later years.

Nicola Gatto, defending, said: “He (Murphy) acknowledges his distorted behaviour and the distress it would have caused the complainants.”