A FORMER serviceman, once honoured for saving children from a runaway crane, was yesterday jailed for 18 months for sexually assaulting a resident at a care home.

Ian Barwick, 71, was also given a restraining order and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for five years.

The incident happened when Barwick was at the home in the Durham area in March last year.

A court heard that he was visiting the 69-year-old woman alone.

His barrister, Paul Abrahams, said the conviction which followed a three-day trial and the resulting destruction of his “exemplary” character was enough punishment for Barwick.

He said his military service – a former member of the Life Guards, a regiment of the Household Cavalry – and years of dedication to the St John Ambulance made him in “impeccable” character.

In 1992, Barwick was honoured by the chief constable of Durham Constabulary for jumping into the cab of a run-away crane and steering it away from schoolchildren and a lollipop lady.

But Judge Simon Hickey, sitting at Teesside Crown Court, said the offence was so serious that only a custodial sentence could be passed.

After a trial at Durham Crown Court last month, the daughter of the victim – who suffered from dementia – thanked staff for their vigilance and support in the case.

The woman, who has asked not to be named, said without the response of two staff members, who were the only witnesses to the incident, and their subsequent evidence during the trial, Barwick would never have been convicted of the assault on her mother, who has since died.

A jury took an hour to reach a unanimous guilty verdict on the third day of the trial on a charge of sexually assault.

Prosecutor Paul Currer said he was seen with his hand on the woman’s leg, but, subsequently, staff on duty at the time believed his hand had gone further up her leg, touching an intimate area, over clothing.

When Barwick later left, their suspicions were reported to police.

Barwick, of Hall Gardens, Sherburn Village, near Durham, claimed any touching was inadvertent, and not done with any sexual intent.

He claimed his hand may have accidentally moved further up her leg when a phone went off, and the woman tried to get up to respond to the call.

Speaking after the trial, the daughter of the late victim in the case said: “I have nothing but absolute praise for the care home and their staff.

“The case would not have stood up without their response, as my mother could not have relayed what took place to anyone.”