abandoned orphanage (St Joseph's seminary)

A priest who "systematically and horrifically" sexually abused schoolboys at a Catholic seminary in the 1970s and 1980s has been jailed.

Burnley Crown Court heard father Michael Higginbottom, 76, targeted two boarders separately at St Joseph's College, in Upholland, Lancashire.

Higginbottom, who denied all charges, was jailed for 18 years.

Judge Andrew Woolman said the abuse was accompanied by threats or violence "under the guise of school punishment".

'Shame and guilt'
In sentencing, the judge said: "You were in the highest position of trust in relation to these boys, who you abused in a quite appalling way.

"I have no doubt you specifically targeted these boys."

The abuse was "accompanied, time after time, by threats or actual violence under the guise of a normal school punishment", he said.

"The way you acted left them with a sense of shame and of guilt, as well as the sense no-one would believe them if they complained."