Brave Longford sex abuse survivor Simon's battle for justice

Former international amateur boxer Simon Byrne, who has lived in county Longford for 25 years, has encouraged victims of childhood sexual abuse to confide in family or friends and not to deal with the trauma alone.

The campaigner is appealing to the governments in both the UK and Ireland to change the law around sexual offenders who are found to be too old or ill to stand trial.

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Simon and his wife Maria, whose parents were born in Ireland, relocated to Ireland from Manchester in 2000 and they have lived in county Longford since and reside in Drumlish.

Reflecting on his childhood, Simon said he was a happy, shy and quiet boy, who hoped joining his local boxing club aged 11 would boost his confidence.

However, instead a despicable breach of trust was perpetrated by his coach, twisted paedophile Patrick Lowe, a family friend who had worked on building sites with his father.

Simon is still battling to come to terms with the aftermath of the horrific sexual abuse by the Dubliner, which started within weeks of him joining the club and continued for four long, years until Simon's older brother started training at the gym and it suddenly stopped.

"I didn't really realise what was going on, I thought it was a bit strange but I didn't really understand it," Simon said.
"And it carried on. “Obviously I later realised what it was and that it wasn't right, but I didn't tell my parents for the fear of, one, not being believed and in those days things were quite different."

Simon said secondly he just wanted the abuse to stop and he thought he would 'try to get on with my life'.

Simon said the abuse had a devastating impact on his wellbeing and mental health for many years.

The youngster, who was threatened by Lowe that him and his family could 'disappear', was too scared and intimidated to tell any of his loved ones or friends while the abuse was taking place.

Simon said Lowe was gregarious, charismatic and hugely respected within Sharston Amateur Boxing Club and the local community in Manchester.

"There was a large population of Irish people in the area and he knew a lot of contacts there.

"He would be going into houses and visiting families and people trusted him."

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Simon trained excessively and with what he now realises was an unhealthy and obsessive determination to control his diet and exercise meticulously, which was a form of 'self-harm' that masked the internal trauma he was bottling up.

He boxed for England as a 10-stone light-welterweight but keeping the dark secret to himself took a huge toll.

"I was also being threatened by Lowe that I could disappear and my family could disappear and I'd get into trouble and if I got into trouble and at that age you believe it and you take it for granted that he's telling the truth and he will follow through."

Master Manipulator
Simon's wife Maria said she believes Lowe manipulated the entire community.

"He groomed families, looking back now he was getting the friendship and the trust of the parents and he was then able to abuse."

In 2005, Lowe was convicted of the historical sexual abuse of a 13-year-old, but only sentenced to nine months in prison.
Simon still decided to keep the dark secret to himself.

He never told his parents and his mum Christine died in 2010 and his dad Peter passed away in 2016 without knowing about the abuse.

He said it was a 'relief' in some ways they did not find out as he believes the upset and suffering he endured would have been incredibly difficult for them.

"It just stained everything.

"Everything was disturbed and I think because we have kids of our own that fear of something happening to them and being overprotective was there.

"Maria wasn't surprised there was something because of my behaviour and a minefield of emotions, she knew there was something."

Simon said the abuse 'was always there' in the background casting a large shadow over his relationship with loved ones and during social occasions with friends.

"I would turn into this sort of jovial clown, I'd be the laugh of the room, I'd be the one to tell the jokes just to cover up that dip."

Simon and Maria, who was a sister of one of his friend's , knew each other as teenagers and they started dating in their mid-20s.

She said she realised while he would be laughing and joking during social occasions he was 'masking' and it was a 'form of deflection'.

Simon was hospitalised in 2013 and it was only then that he opened up and told Maria about his sexual abuse hell.

After eight further years of dealing with the aftermath of the abuse and trying to process it, Simon read media coverage about English football's historic child abuse in 2021 and he reported the abuse to police.

Lowe was eventually charged in early-2023 following an investigation , but it was nearly two years later before the case proceeded to court.

However, the night before the trial was due to commence in November 2024, Simon was left distraught when he received a call to inform him it had been cancelled as Lowe, then aged 85, had been diagnosed with dementia and he was deemed unfit to plead.

Simon was so upset and traumatised he handed Maria his phone, his wallet, the car keys and he said ominously 'That’s me, I’m done, I can’t do this anymore.’

Lowe eventually did face court last May for the sexual abuse of Simon, but instead of it being a criminal trial he faced a procedure called a trial of facts in which his testimony would be put before a jury for what is called a fact finding hearing.

Simon said they are incredibly rare and they are "normally used in family law", however, the four day hearing offered some small consolation when the jury found Lowe guilty of the offences.

Simon, who had a right to anonymity as a victim of a sexual offence, decided to waive his right to anonymity, as he would like his actions and his decision to come forward to encourage other victims to report sexual offenders.

Now Simon and Maria have launched a campaign and a petition on change.org, to get the law in the UK changed to ensure criminals such as Lowe will face justice in future.

The petition has so far gathered over 1,200 signatures and the petition requires 10,000 signatures to receive a formal Government response

Simon believes offenders like Lowe, if they are not sent to prison, should be placed within secure care facilities where they are unable to harm others and the campaign has given him and Maria the benefit of helping other victims.

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"This has been our home for the last 25 years, our parents were born here.

"We feel very entitled to say the law needs changing, it absolutely does,” Simon added.

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Maria said her dad was a Longford man and her grandparents had a dance hall in Aughamore Lower, Dromard.

"We're rooted here," she added.

She said there are a lot of people in this country who have been failed by the justice system in Ireland and a lot of elderly offenders are being prosecuted with health issues and it is a 'massive' problem for victims.

Anyone who would like to sign the petition and support the campaign can do so by logging onto: https://c.org/6dXRTRhsPS