THE partner of a foster carer has been convicted of child rape.

Winston Britton subjected his three victims, who were all under the age of 16 and cannot be identified, to ten years of violent abuse, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.

The 51-year-old heating engineer, of Chingford Mount Road, Chingford, pleaded not guilty to seven counts of rape and 11 indecent assaults between 1988 and 1998.

He was found guilty on Friday (March 2) and is due to be sentenced on March 30.

One girl was raped five times and was the victim of all the indecent assaults.

Britton is the registered owner of the company W.B. Heating and boasted on its website that he is a foster carer and was regularly used by the Metropolitan Police to carry out maintenance work in “secure areas” of its premises.

Hackney Council confirmed Britton was the partner of one of its registered carers.

A spokeswoman for the local authority said: “As soon as Hackney Council became aware of allegations made against this man appropriate action was taken in line with child protection procedures to ensure that no child in Hackney’s care was harmed.”

Britton was found not guilty on two counts of rape of a fourth girl under the age of 16.

He was also cleared of one count of rape in 1989.

Click here to follow the Chingford Guardian on Twitter

Click here to follow the Waltham Forest Guardian on Twitter