John March: Remorseless Sheffield man guilty of raping boy multiple times when he was in his early teens

Sentencing John March, now aged 20, Judge Sarah Wright told him: “These were very serious offences.”

March had sought to deny responsibility for the string of sexual offences he was accused of, but jurors rejected his account when he was found guilty of six counts of rape of a child under 13 and of one count of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity at the conclusion of a Sheffield Crown Court trial.

No impact statement on behalf of the boy March preyed upon, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was provided to the court.

Judge Wright suggested, however, that the way in which the boy continues to be impacted by March’s offending had been demonstrated through the evidence heard during the course of the trial.

“This has understandably had a significant effect upon this young boy…and will continue to do so, no doubt, throughout his life,” Judge Wright said during a sentencing hearing held on January 10, 2025 at the same court.

Judge Wright jailed March for four years, but said he would have received a custodial sentence ‘in excess of 10 years’ had he been an adult when he committed the offences.

Judge Wright also told the court that March’s offending was serious enough for him to have been sent to custody at the time he committed the offences, despite his young age.

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She also noted March had ‘continued to deny the offences’ to the author of his pre-sentence report, and had failed to show any remorse for his crimes.

March’s barrister, Mohammed Qazi KC told the court that March, formerly of south east Sheffield but now of Kings Road, Doncaster city centre, is on the cusp of turning 21 and will therefore soon be transferred to adult custody.

“This means he will not, for any calculable time, be in a youth offenders’ institute and will therefore transfer into an adult prison aged 21 as a sex offender. It’s going to have a prolific impact on him…prison will be difficult,” Mr Qazi told the court.

Mr Qazi described March as having a ‘chaotic upbringing,’ and suggested that the ‘potential alienation’ caused by such a start to life may have impacted upon ‘this young man’s ability to behave lawfully’.

He suggested it was not appropriate to go into further detail about March’s troubled upbringing in open court, however,

Mr Qazi told the court that March is now a father-of-two, adding that the consequences of his conviction as a sex offender is likely to have a ‘life long’ impact on his access to, and relationship with, his children.

Mr Qazi asked Judge Wright to take a number of other factors into consideration when passing sentence, including: March’s young age, both now and when he committed the offences; his lack of other convictions; the significant delay in the case reaching court and the fact he has not committed any further offences in the intervening years.

In addition to March’s four-year custodial sentence, Judge Wright also made him the subject of a 10-year sexual harm prevention order, and told him he must remain on the sex offenders’ register for life.

She also granted a restraining order, prohibiting March from contacting the victim for a period of 10 years.