Neil Swift

Haydock Man Jailed After Family Opens Up on 'Living Nightmare' of Abuse
The family of a vulnerable child abused by a family friend have described the year leading up to his sentencing as a "living nightmare."

Since the shocking revelations were unearthed, the family had been waiting for justice against 50-year-old Neil Swift, of Rose Avenue in Haydock. That justice arrived at Liverpool Crown Court, where Swift was jailed for four-and-a-half years for the sexual assault of a five-year-old boy.

Speaking on behalf of the family, a relative opened up about the devastating impact of the abuse and the breach of trust they experienced.

"I cannot explain what it has done to us," the relative explained. "We just want people to know what he’s done, because we don’t want this to happen to anyone else. He groomed us and gained the family’s trust, preying on a vulnerable child. We have now lost trust in everyone and can’t accept any outside help whatsoever."

The family described feeling deeply betrayed by Swift, noting that the trauma did not simply vanish when the trial concluded.

"We have lived a nightmare for more than a year and re-live it every day. We are hurt and very angry. You shut yourself off from the outside world and bottle everything up," the relative said.

"You think it’s going to be closure after he was sentenced, but we had to relive it; going over it again and again. He showed no emotion in court, even when sentenced. He may have got four-and-a-half years, but it wasn’t long enough."

Swift is the son of Bill Swift, who served as the mayor of St Helens from 2005 to 2006.