A LORRY driver jailed for sex attacks on young girls over a 13-year period has failed in an attempt to overturn some of his convictions.

Melvin McFadden, 55, assaulted six girls between 1989 and 2002.

He was jailed at Teesside Crown Court for nine years in October last year after he was convicted of seven indecent assaults, two counts of gross indecency with a child and having sex with a girl under 13.

When McFadden, from South Church Road, Bishop Auckland, County Durham, was jailed, he was told his crimes were grave and the sentence should be a deterrent to others.

London's Criminal Appeal Court yesterday dismissed his challenge to convictions relating to one girl, dismissing claims they were unsafe.

Lord Justice Dyson said McFadden assaulted the girls across the country, offering money for sexual favours.

McFadden was arrested in 2001 after a complaint by one of the girls.

He appealed against three convictions - one indecent assault, one of indecency with a child and one of having sex with a girl under 13.

At trial, McFadden had been acquitted of a gross indecency charge concerning one girl, but was found guilty on other charges relating to her.

His counsel, Tim Roberts QC, said the jury's verdicts relating to the girl's allegations were not supported by other evidence.

He also said the trial judge was wrong not to allow him to cross-examine the girl about her sexual history.

He said experiences from her relationships may have given her "knowledge" of sexual activity that was not the result of assaults by McFadden.

But Lord Justice Dyson dismissed those arguments. He said the trial judge's reasons for not allowing the girl to be questioned on her sexual history were rational and correct.

He said: "In our judgement, these verdicts are not logically inconsistent. It is possible to accept evidence of the girl on some counts and to reject it on other counts."