Tommy Bean – Bury St Edmunds

Article from: 27/02/2026

Bury St Edmunds man jailed for 13 years for sexual abuse

A west Suffolk man accused of robbing a schoolboy of his childhood by sexually abusing him has been jailed for 13 years.

Jailing 27-year-old Tommy Bean, Judge David Pugh described his behaviour as having a “devastating effect” on the victim and causing long term damage to his mental health.

He said the victim, who was aged ten to eleven at the time of the abuse, had also described turning to alcohol and drugs to numb the pain and confusion he’d felt.

The court heard that Bean had bought the victim presents which Judge Pugh described as “grooming” behaviour.

In an impact statement read to Ipswich Crown Court the victim accused Bean of robbing him of his childhood and said that as a result of the sexual abuse he’d been haunted by flashbacks.

He said he’d attempted to kill himself and when he came round in hospital he was angry he’d survived.

Bean of Faiers Close, Bury St Edmunds, admitted two offences of oral rape of a child under 13, causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and sexual communication with a child.

In addition to being jailed he was given a one year extended licence period and made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order and ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

Adam Norris for Bean said the offences happened when his client was aged 18-19 and was “young and immature”.

He said Bean was “immeasurably sorry” for what he’d done and wished to apologise to the victim for the harm he had caused.

He told the court that Bean was a totally different person now to the person who committed the offences more than seven years ago.