Sexual abuse survivor hopes book will help others speak out and get justice

A MAN who was sexually abused in his childhood by his table tennis coach has published a book detailing his journey to justice in the hope it will help others come forward.

- BY HANNAH COTTRELL

Adam Rainford, 56, who lives in Stockport, Greater Manchester, with his long-term partner, 55-year-old Carolyn Trembath, was 10 years old when he was sexually abused and groomed for around three years by David Mellor, a table tennis coach in Chester in the late 1970s and 1980s, who is now 90, according to police.

Adam, a product compliance manager, said he was “easy prey” for Mellor after having a “difficult” upbringing and he buried his trauma for around 40 years - but after seeing other sexual abuse cases unfold in the news, he said he was compelled to reach out to police in 2017, causing him to fall “spectacularly to bits”.

Mellor was sentenced to five years in prison at Chester Crown Court on July 3, 2019 after changing his plea to guilty for three charges of indecent assault on a boy and he was also made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Police confirmed Mellor has now been released after serving his time and is being actively managed in the community but Adam feels “he’s no threat to me anymore” and he has worked hard in therapy over the years to arrive in a “positive” place.

After his therapy sessions, Adam wrote notes detailing his emotions around speaking out and obtaining justice which he later revisited to turn into a memoir, titled The Seventh Magpie, which he published in December 2024 with the aim of helping other victims to come forward.

Adam also believes other children may have been subject to abuse and he has waived his right to anonymity in the hopes those reading his story may recognise Mellor’s name and come forward.

“Control was the last thing I felt at the beginning but as we went through it, I was more in control and at the end, I was in control completely and he'd lost everything,” Adam said.