AN MP has called for a new probe into a former parish council leader and DJ who sexually abused vulnerable youngsters.

Mark McCormick, 49, from Bursledon, pleaded guilty to the rape of a teenage girl and 11 charges of sexual abuse against teenage boys, one count of taking an indecent photo of a child, and a further count of sexually assaulting a young man.

McCormick appeared at Southampton Crown Court yesterday when, wearing a blue suit, a grey tie and a white shirt, he sat in the dock and showed no emotion as he was sentenced to 17 years in prison.

The court heard how the former chairman of Bursledon Parish Council abused the youngsters after parties at his home, in his car and at country parks, where he would incite them to commit sexual acts on him and others.

But now Eastleigh MP Mims Davies has said he could have been stopped earlier and she is calling for further investigations to be carried out.

Daily Echo: 8.5.15 Eastleigh local election count 2015, Pictured: Conservatives Mims Davies. (25822416)

(MP Mims Davies)

Ms Davies, who had her offices based at Bursledon Parish Council after she was elected in 2015, said there are still many questions that need to be answered.

She described McCormick as “a sexual predator” who used his position within the community to target young and vulnerable victims.

“It is quite clear he could have been stopped from at least 2002 when victims came forward and again in 2006 when, by then, the police had multiple complaints about him,”she said.

Ms Davies added: “There needs to be an investigation by Hampshire police over why no action was taken when there was a clear opportunity to do so. This allowed McCormick to continue to be free and for him to parade as a pillar of the community when he was nothing but a sex abuser.”

McCormick committed the offences between 1997 and 2011.

Yesterday the court heard how he worked as a DJ and gained the trust of his young victims.

Fern Russell, prosecuting, said: “The defendant was an attractive company to young people interested in music and socialising. He would have appeared an exciting older friend to have but he was a calculating sexual predator who manipulated and used them for his own sexual gratification.”

The court heard how during the parties he organised at his home, McCormick used to ask youngsters ‘who wants to have fun?’, meaning sex.

In a statement read to the court, a victim said: “I was his lifeless puppet and he was my sick puppeteer.”

The court heard how the victims suffered from anxiety and had difficulties in their relationships with other people.

Another victim said the abuse had left him “afraid of sex”. “All I see is his dirty smug grin, it’s planted in my head,”he added.

Ms Russell said that following McCormick’s arrest, searches of his computer found he had been accessing internet sites such as “Daddy and Son” role playing games as recently as 2016.

Daily Echo:

(Mark McCormick)

Nicholas Cotter, defending, said: “Mark McCormick is a gentleman who struggled at school, suffered bullies, had a difficult home life. These do not excuse what he did and he doesn’t seek to hide behind these difficulties. He expresses profound remorse.”

Yesterday the court heard the case was brought following a cold case review by police after early reports by some of the victims were not deemed suitable for prosecution.

Following Ms Davies’ comments a spokesman for Hampshire police said: “Allegations were investigated and a file was prepared and passed to the CPS. Any comment on decisions relating to why no charging decision was brought in the previous investigations is a matter for the CPS.”

The Daily Echo contacted the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) but they were unable to provide a comment before the paper went to press.