A former Mayor of Pembroke has been told he will be sentenced to many years in jail after he was convicted of child rape and indecent assault.

David Boswell, aged 57, was found guilty of raping and indecently assaulting one girl and indecently assaulting a different girl.

Both were under 10 at the time.

Boswell, of High Street, Pembroke Dock, has been remanded to jail and will be sentenced next month.

He had denied eight charges but after a trial at Swansea crown court was convicted of one rape and four indecent assaults.

Boswell gasped “Oh Christ” as the foreman of the jury announced the first verdict of guilty.

There was then a delay while the jury considered the remaining charges. Judge Keith Thomas immediately remanded Boswell into custody after telling him he was not confident he would not abscond instead of returning to hear the remaining verdicts.

Both of his victims - now grown women - had made statements about how the offending had affected them in later life.

Catherine Richards, prosecuting, told the jury it was her view that they had contacted police with their complaints after learning that there were now young girls within Boswell’s extended family and they feared he might behave in a similar way towards them.

Judge Thomas agreed to a defence request to allow a probation officer time to prepare a report into Boswell’s background.

He told the jury he had served 13 years in the Army before becoming a lorry driver in the Pembroke area and later joining in local politics and eventually gaining a seat on Pembrokeshire County Council.

Pembrokeshire County Council released the following statement following the verdict: “Following the trial at Swansea Crown Court, Town and County Councillor David (Dai) Boswell has been found guilty of five extremely serious indecent assault offences against children under 13-years-old, including the rape of a child under 16-years-old.

“Sentencing is scheduled to take place on July 13.

“Unless the councillor chooses to resign from both roles with immediate effect, the process is now as follows - the county council seat of Pembroke St. Mary North will be declared vacant as soon as the legislation permits.

“The Local Government Act 1972 states that a member is disqualified from holding office if, since election, he has been convicted of an offence and has been sentenced to imprisonment for a period of not less than three months.

“Conviction is deemed to occur on expiry of the period allowed for making an appeal or application with respect to the conviction (the defence has 28 days in which to serve an appeal notice following conviction) or the date on which such appeal/application is finally disposed of.

“It is at that point that the vacancy is deemed to have occurred and the county council may then immediately declare the office to be vacant and public notice of a vacancy can be issued.

“Throughout this period, the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults has and will remain of paramount importance for the council,” added the spokesperson.