A 39 year old man, who forged documents in a bid to continue working with young people at the Wisbech Sea Cadets, has been sent to jail for 20 months after pleading guilty to three child and animal pornography charges.

The news has been welcomed by two mothers who pulled their children out of the cadets after becoming concerned that the father of three had previous cautions for indecent images and common assault on a child.

Carrie-Ann Elliott said she was relieved that at last the criminal justice system had caught up with Andrew Mattless after she took her concerns to the cadets last September but was ignored.

The mother of two said: “Mattless had been with the cadets for three years with no CRB check. The cadets didn’t take action when I warned them, he continued to come into the unit and for that they didn’t do right by the children. What they did was fundamentally wrong.

“He appeared in the newspaper in September for these latest charges and yet in November he still took part in the Remembrance Day service with the children and was responsible for driving the mini bus to a fire station trip as the only adult in charge of young people.

“When I blew the whistle I was told it was slander, and told there was nothing wrong.

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