Hornchurch choirmaster victims get apology for sentencing delay

Hornchurch choirmaster Thomas Rodgers was found guilty of sexually abusing children aged five to seven and eight to 11 at Snaresbrook Crown Court in December.   

Both of his victims, now adults, arrived at the court on Wednesday January 10 expecting to see their abuser sentenced and to read their victim personal statements in front of him. 

But instead they were told by Judge Louise Kamill that the case would be adjourned until February 2 because a prosecutor was not available. 

Rodgers and his barrister had been informed of the adjournment but his victims had not. 

One victim said: “I’ve had Christmas, New Year, all waiting for this date so I can move on with my life. 

“Even 15 minutes before we were in court, victim support told us it was going ahead so in our mind we’re all ready. 

“Emotionally ready, my mind was ready to go into that situation to be able to bring up all that trauma and face your abuser face to face and look at him and read that out.  

“I've been thinking about that during my Christmas break, how am I going to do that? Now I've had to park that to one side.” 

They were told that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) contacted the court ten days earlier seeking an adjournment as a prosecutor would not be available. 

Confirmation that the case would be adjourned was given on January 9, but due to a listing error the case remained listed for the following day. 

A spokesperson for His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service said: "We wholeheartedly apologise for the errors made in this case and for any distress caused as a result.   

"We are looking into the matter to ensure lessons are learned and to prevent this kind of mistake from happening again." 

Thomas Rodgers (Image: Met Police)

One victim was abroad over the Christmas holiday and flew into Stansted Airport the night before. 

He was then up until the early hours of the morning writing his victim personal statement. 

Rodgers, a 44-year-old music teacher who is also the musical director of the Hornchurch Can't Sing choir, was found guilty of offences which date back to the late 1990s when he was in his late teens and his victims were aged five to seven and eight to 11.  

A Met Police investigation was launched after his victims, now adults, came forward in January 2019. 

Rodgers was arrested on February 10 in that year on suspicion of sexual assault and was charged by postal requisition in March 2023.  

A jury found him guilty of indecent assault on a boy aged eight to 11, and indecency with children aged eight to 11 and five to seven. 

Speaking about the delay, one of Rodgers’ victims said he’s grateful to everyone who helped secure the conviction, but said “there’s obviously a fault in the system”. 

“If it was someone who was less emotionally stable than me, I can really see how that would affect them,” he said. 

“Now I've got a whole month here now waiting to see what will happen and that does play a part on my mental health, my daily activities, what I’m doing going out, caring and protecting for my family and things like that.” 

He added: “The main reason I've done this is to stop other people potentially being abused, and this person has been free from the 5 December to do what he wants.” 

Rodgers’ victims have since been told that his sentencing has been moved forwards from February 2 to next week (January 22). 

On Wednesday (January 19) a joint investigation by the Romford Recorder and MyLondon revealed that child sex offender Rodgers continues to teach while on bail. 

Unlike school teaching, private tutors are not currently required to have an enhanced DBS check which would flag if they have a criminal record or are banned from working with children.     

You can read the full story here - Hornchurch choirmaster continues to teach kids despite child sex offences conviction.

The government has since said that it is looking into ways to introduce higher-level criminal record checks for self-employed people working with children and vulnerable people.