January 2005
Pervert boxing coach jailed
MANCHESTER United skipper Roy Keane is in shock at finding out one of his closest friends is now a convicted paedophile.
Keane was a frequent visitor to the boxing gym run by fellow Irish ex-pat Patrick Lowe.
Lowe, 65, was even invited to family functions and Keane’s apparent fondness for Lowe meant he donated equipment to the gym in nearby Timperley, Manchester.
But Lowe was sent to prison for nine months at Manchester Crown Court last Friday after a four-day trial involving a distraught key witness.
The woman victim, now aged 32, was just 13 when she was abused by Lowe in 1985.
He had formed a friendship with the girl’s family, becoming close when her father fell ill with cancer.
Trusted by the ill man to look after his daughter, Lowe, then in his mid-40s, took the girl for trips in the van.
He also ran a B&B in nearby Chorlton and often invited the girl to visit and earn money by doing chores.
It was at the B&B in 1985 that trusted friend Lowe subjected the girl, who cannot be named, to a serious sexual assault. She was left so traumatised by the abuse that she was frozen into fear and silence for the next two decades.
Only in 2004 did she eventually feel capable of approaching Greater Manchester police to report the crime.
Lowe pleaded not guilty in court but was sentenced to nine months for indecent assault and ordered to remain on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.
Lowe moved to England more than 30 years ago and has been associated with the boxing club ever since.
He became a pillar of the local Irish community in South Manchester and North Cheshire and had many friends in common with Keane before they became close.
In 2003 the Mayor of Manchester presented Lowe with a long service award for his contribution to the community and in particular to the local boxing community.
Detective Constable Nicky Shaw of the Child Protection Unit at West Didsbury police station said: “This sentence is an extremely positive result for the woman Lowe abused.”
