A 56-year-old man who sexually molested a young boy has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Patrick McGinn had been found guilty by a Liverpool Crown Court jury of four offences of sexually assaulting the boy when he was aged between seven and eight years old.

Jailing McGinn, of Warwick Street, Leigh, Judge Thomas Teague, QC, described the abuse, which happened on as many as 15 occasions, as “opportunistic furtive groping”.

He said that McGinn had not groomed his victim, who had written “a balanced, measured and mature” impact statement for the court.

Judge Teague said he took into consideration that prison would be particularly difficult for McGinn, who has no similar previous convictions, as he suffers from epilepsy.

He ordered McGinn, who showed no emotion, to sign on the sex offenders' register for life.