Moment police arrest paedophile, 54, who threw boy, 10, over 100ft cliff after the child tried to stop him raping his young sister

This is the shocking moment police arrest a man who attempted to throw a child over a 100ft cliff after he was caught sexually abusing a young girl.

Anthony Stocks, 54, has been found guilty of trying to murder a ten-year-old boy after he groomed his young sister and made her dependent on him while he was working as an extra on several films.

A panel of 12 jurors at Oxford Crown Court today unanimously found Stocks, of Goring, Reading, guilty on all eight counts, including attempted murder, rape, and sexual assaults. 

Footage shows the moment he was arrested by police at his home, where he is read by an officer the long list of offences he committed.

The video then goes on to show Stocks being interviewed by police after the boy fell, where he says slipped of his own accord. He can also be seen telling police that he did not want the boy to fall off the cliff.

Anthony Stocks, 54, has been found guilty of trying to murder a ten-year-old boy after he groomed his young sister

The court heard how the young girl confided in the boy, who both cannot be named for legal reasons, after the assaults and said she 'was scared'. Stocks then became aware that the boy knew about the assaults and had planned to 'disrupt it'. 

In September 2022, Stocks took the boy to Ovingdean, Sussex, after he previously contemplated pushing him off a cliff at a quarry several weeks before.

A witness states they saw a 'small shape fall as if thrown from the cliff', followed by 'a shriek' but the boy says he couldn't remember if he was pushed or fell.

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Man, 54, 'threw boy, 10, over a 100ft cliff' after the youngster tried to 'stop him from raping his sister', court hears

He was then airlifted to St George's Hospital in London, where it was discovered he had several fractures on his head and arm, a deformity to his neck and a laceration of his spleen and kidney.

When interviewed by police, the girl said Stocks had admitted he was going to push the boy off the cliff 'as he wanted to get rid of him'.

Today, jurors heard the 10-year-old schoolboy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, 'miraculously' survived the 100ft fall after landing on the concrete under walk at the bottom of the cliffs.

Prosecutors claimed the twice-married defendant decided to lure the boy on a trip to London to see the Chelsea football stadium before later pushing him from a cliff in Brighton because the boy had tried to prevent Stocks from molesting his underage sister.

After several months spent in hospital, the boy told police he 'knew everything' of the sexual abuse his underage sister allegedly suffered at the hands of Stocks, after the girl confided in him that Stocks was asking her to have sex with him 'pretty much every day.'

The boy began to 'interfere' and stay with his sister whenever the abuser was around in a bid to stop the abuse from happening - which 'really annoyed' Stocks, jurors heard.

In his interview with police, the boy described growing suspicious of Stocks' behaviour towards his sister after seeing him kiss the girl 'on the lips' before they 'went behind the bush' in a park where the children were playing.

The boy said: 'Every time my sister went somewhere, he (Stocks) would follow. Then she told me that he asked her to have sex with him. It was happening pretty much every day.

'I felt very sad for her. I didn't know what to do at the time. I don't think he (Stocks) knew that I knew everything. But he was disappointed and he kept sighing every time I was there - because nothing would happen.'

The boy's sister, who gave live evidence at trial, said she was 'frightened' by Stocks and spoke to no-one about the alleged sexual assaults she was going through - except her little brother.

Asked why she told her brother, the girl replied: 'So he would help me.'

The girl added that, a few nights before the trip to the Chelsea stadium, Stocks had approached her and told her: 'I'm going to push him off a cliff. I want to get rid of him so we can be together.'

The court heard the girl had tried to warn her brother not to go with Stocks - in vain, as the boy was a keen Chelsea fan and had 'always wanted' to see the stadium.

When police arrested Stocks, he denied having ever touched the girl and claims the boy's fall was accidental. 

He told jurors last week he was a movie fan and wanted to take the boy to the cliff edge at Ovingdean to 'see where they filmed Quadrophenia' - a 1979 British drama movie based on The Who's 1973 rock opera of the same name.

Following the conviction, Stocks' defence barrister Martin Rutherford told judge Nigel Daly there was no evidence that the defendant suffers from any kind of mental illness.

Stocks has been remanded on custody and due to appear again at Oxford Crown court at the end of July for sentence.

Judge Daly said: 'These are very serious offences. I'm going to have to consider dangerousness in view of the indictment, particularly in view of the attempted murder which has got a motive in the first six counts of rape and sexual assault on a young girl.

'This will take some time. I want to look at a lot of things regarding his background. In any case, there will be a lengthily custodial sentence.'

Stocks was found guilty of four counts of sexual assault of a child under 13 and one charge of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

He was also found guilty of one count of rape of a child on at least three occasions and attempted murder but denied all of the charges.