Limo driver, 77, plied schoolgirls with alcohol before raping them in stretch Hummer & threatening their families

A LIMO driver who used his business to groom and rape schoolgirls in his stretch Hummer has been jailed for 24 years.

David Saynor, 77, targeted particularly vulnerable girls whom he would give free rides and money to and ply with drink before raping or assaulting them.

Following a trial at Sheffield Crown Court, he was found guilty of a series of sexual offences against children which dated from between 2005 and 2017.

Saynor, now of Mayall Court in Waddington, Lincolnshire, was told by Judge David Dixon given his age and health he would likely remain in prison for the remainder of his life.

Jurors heard between 2005 and 2017, Saynor lured children into his limousine under the pretence of offering them to do "promotional work" for his business.

His eight victims, aged between 12 and 17 at the time, were often picked up from schools or care homes in his stretch Hummer limousine and taken around Rotherham.

The girls would be given money for cigarettes, food or occasionally drugs and were "actively encouraged" to call him if they needed a lift or to bring their friends.

The vile rapist was arrested by the National Crime Agency (NCA) in 2020 as part of Operation Stovewood.

He had denied the offences but was found guilty of four counts of rape, two counts of paying for sexual services of a child and five counts of meeting a child following sexual grooming following a five-week trial.

Saynor was also found guilty of three counts of assault by penetration, two counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

Victim impact statements read out in court detailed the lasting trauma Saynor's abuse had caused.

His victims, now all adults, said they felt Saynor had robbed them of their childhood and destroyed their trust in men.

Many of them said they struggled with their mental health, felt lonely and scared to leave the house and found relationships with others difficult.

One victim said: "I am an emotional wreck and every day is difficult. I don’t have good days, I have better days."

Another victim said she suffered from nightmares and had become an overprotective parent as a result of what had happened to her.

She said: "David ruined my childhood and I feel like he’s ruined my adult life too. I don’t know who I am anymore."

At the end of the hearing, Judge David Dixon thanked the women for their bravery in giving evidence in court.

"You are all amazing women, because you were brave enough and powerful enough to stand up to questions, to suggestions that you were in it for the money," he said.

"To do all of that shows that you have the power, not him, that you decide, not him."

Judge Dixon told Saynor he must serve at least two thirds of a 24-year prison term, making it "effectively a life sentence" due to Saynor's age and deteriorating health.

Operation Stovewood was set up in the wake of the Jay Report, which sent shockwaves across the nation in 2014 when it found that at least 1,400 girls were abused, trafficked and groomed by gangs of men of mainly Pakistani heritage in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.

Last autumn the NCA announced that, from January, new allegations would be handled by South Yorkshire Police rather than Operation Stovewood but said “this does not mean we are walking away”.

The agency said it is “confident that we have done all we realistically can to identify those individuals who may have been victims”, saying it has identified more than 1,100 children involved in the exploitation between 1997 and 2013 – almost all girls.

The agency said it remains committed to seeing its current investigations through to the end of the criminal justice process, which is anticipated to continue into 2027.

A total of 36 people have so far been convicted as a result of the operation.