SHAME SHAME
PROPRIETOR OF PH FIRM TERRORISED RADCLIFFE - SEXUALLY ASSAULTING CHILDREN AND AN ELDERLY WOMAN
On the surface, 51- year-old Jason Bursk appeared to be a respectable father of three and proprietor of a private hire firm. But the reality was totally different. He was a prowling sex beast who brought a year of fear to a town, targeting the vulnerable at night. Bursk’s warped be- haviour was the stuff of horror movies. From November 2018 to November 2019, he stalked Radcliffe, a district of Manchester as a sexual predator. Fuelled by alcohol, he would peep through windows and try numerous front and back doors in the early hours until he found one that was open. Once inside a home, his targets were chil- dren and in one case an elderly woman. Police believe that Bursk, would delib- erately peer through windows and into gardens to look for toys - to find where children lived. At Minshull Street Crown Court, Bursk, from Radcliffe, ad- mitted two counts of sexual assault of a child under 13; one count of attempted rape of a child under 13; one count of sex- ual assault of a woman in her 70s; three counts of attempting to tres- pass with intent to commit a sexual offence; and four counts of trespass with intent to com- mit a sexual offence.
44 Jason Bursk
The offences related to eight separate incidents and in- cluded a sexual assault on a child from 2012, also in Radcliffe. Judge John Potter described Bursk as a ‘deviant
sexual
predator’ who had sunk to the ‘depths of depravity’. He’s now been jailed for 15 years - with an additional five years on extended licence. Detective Supt Howard Millington, who led Operation Horsley into Bursk, told the Manchester Evening News: “Bursk is a sexual predator. He loses a lot of his inhibitions, especially when he has had alcohol. He is a very dangerous man - particularly a danger to women and young girls who are vulnerable by reason of age.” Bursk’s offending came to light after his final attack in the early hours of November 15 last year. CCTV footage shows him earlier in the evening in Manchester city cen- tre at various venues with friends before
catching a taxi back to Radcliffe, where he started to prowl a street. He is seen on CCTV peering through the window of one house and trying the front door. His DNA was recovered from a window of the house after he pressed his head against a window to see inside. Bursk then tried the door of another house in the same street, and finally a third - where he gained entry through an insecure back door. He spent 32 minutes inside the property, where he sexually assaulted a child as she slept and at- tempted to rape her. After assaulting the child, Bursk bit her and called her a ‘brat’ as she turned away and buried her head in a teddy bear as he tried to rape her. He only left the room after being disturbed by the young girl’s sister, who awoke in the bed next to her. Judge Potter said the pair showed ‘incredible bravery’ in a bid to resist the attack, with the sis- ter trying to push Bursk away. Bursk fled after the victim’s father was alerted. After the horrific attack, covert offi- cers were sent to the area to try and establish the identity of the attacker. GMP then issued CCTV images of
CCTV footage showing Bursk leaving a property doing up his trousers
Bursk in the proper- ty after the attack, holding his trousers up. Several people saw them in the Manchester Evening News and called police with his name - including a teenag- er who he assaulted in 2012. Police said in that case, seven years earlier, there wasn’t enough evidence to proceed. The force mounted a major operation to trace Bursk’s be- haviour in the previous months. Through intelligence gathering on the ground and calls from the public, he was identified as the same man who tres- passed or tried to get into other homes in the area. He was identified retrospectively on CCTV after getting inside one house in April last year. Bursk’s elderly vic- tim - who is in her 70s - awoke to find him in her bedroom after he had turned the lights off in November 2018. He pinned her down and placed his hand
over her mouth when she screamed, before he later ran off when she kicked out at him. Police say Bursk’s routine was to go for a night out, drink, before offending once back in Rad- cliffe. In one instance, he was captured on CCTV in one wo- man’s house wear- ing a dog-tooth pat- terned sports jacket and slacks, which helped convict him. Det Sgt Andy Wright, second in command of the investigation, said: “Once he got dropped off by taxi after going out drinking, he would go wandering and try doors to get into a house.” Commenting on the family whose child was subjected to an attempted rape by Bursk, DS Wright said: “From the night it happened, they never slept in that house again. They have moved out of Radcliffe, the chil- dren moved to different schools. Their lives were ruined.”
When he was caught, Bursk denied his offend- ing, insisting: “I’m not some sort of crazed maniac.” He claimed to not remember anything because he had been drinking. He later pleaded guilty. Bursk’s barrister Sarah Johnston said her client suffered ‘abuse’ and ‘trauma’ during his life - and that he suffers from ‘complex post trau- matic disorder’. Ms Johnston said Bursk’s wife of more than 20 years and their children are standing by him. She said: “They gen- uinely believe that the root cause of the offending can be addressed. They still see the good in their father and husband, and remain commit- ted to him.” Judge Potter said: “Your convictions in these proceedings show you to be a deviant sexual pred- ator. There can be no excuse whatsoev- er for your wicked, depraved behaviour towards others. “The harm caused to you is no excuse for you to harm others.” Det Supt Millington said: “I would like to pay tribute to the victims of these hor- rific sexual ordeals. They have been through harrowing circumstances but have shown admir- able strength and courage to ensure that this man has received the justice he deserves.”
AUGUST 2020
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