A FORMER Ministry of Defence police worker has been found guilty of sexually abusing two girls in Winchcombe.

Dennis Palmer, formerly of Winchcombe, was found guilty at Gloucester crown court last week on four counts of indecently assaulting one girl and one count of indecently assaulting another girl.

The first four offences took place in Winchcombe between October 1977 and October 1981 and the fifth took place between November 1981 and November 1982.

A jury of ten men and two women took two-and-a-half hours to reach their unanimous verdicts.

Both victims gave evidence from behind screens during the trial.

Palmer, aged 67, now lives in Faraday Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire.

The Recorder of Gloucester His Honour Judge Jamie Tabor QC was urged by defending lawyer Sarah Jenkins to adjourn sentence to allow her client to put his affairs in order.

"He still has a full-time job working night shifts and has not had the opportunity to update his employers," she said.

The judge agreed and adjourned the case for sentence on Wednesday, July 6.

Palmer was granted conditional bail until that date.

Earlier the court heard that Palmer had spent a short period with the Royal Navy and had a variety of subsequent jobs, including driving for Castleway Coaches in Winchcombe, before working for the MoD police for some 30 years.