SOCIAL worker Joseph Smith has failed in his appeal against conviction and 10-year prison sentence for sexual assaults on boys at a children's home.

Smith, aged 34, of Holmes Chapel Road, Congleton, was found guilty in July 1997 of 11 charges of buggery and indecent assault at a home in Congleton where he worked.

Eight boys were said to have been involved and the offences were committed between 1978 and 1989.

Smith's counsel Tim Holroyde argued in the Appeal Court in London that the memories of both Smith and those said to have been abused had "diminished" because of the long delay in uncovering the offences.

There was "fading recollection," he said, which had worked unfairly against Smith at the Crown Court trial.

He said that the trial judge failed to take the memory problem more into account during his summing up.

Rejecting his appeal, Lord Justice Tuckey, sitting with two other judges, said the trial judge had dealt with the memory problem perfectly adequately.

He said it was up to an individual judge to decide what weight to put on delays in bringing matters to court, taking into account the different circumstances in different cases.

The appeal court was satisfied there was nothing unsafe about Smith's conviction.

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