British rape survivor who was abused by paedophile running coach who also assaulted her friend, Sky Sports presenter Charlie Webster, takes her own life in Australia after years of struggling with the trauma
- Former Sky Sports presenter Charlie Webster broke the news on Twitter
- She paid tribute to her ‘courageous and strong’ friend Katie who died in Australia
- Webster and Katie were both abused by Paul North, who was jailed in 2002
- The broadcaster made Nowhere to Run: Abused by Our Coach for the BBC, in which she spoke to others from her running club who had suffered abuse
- For confidential support, call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local branch
A rape survivor who inspired a BBC documentary after she helped to jail her sexually abusive running coach has died by suicide, her broadcaster friend has announced.
Katie was abused by coach Paul North, who was convicted of multiple counts of sexual assault and one count of rape in 2002 and jailed for ten years.
Former Sky Sports presenter Charlie Webster, who presented Nowhere to Run: Abused by Our Coach for the BBC, broke the news of her friend’s death on her Twitter account. Ms Webster was also abused by North.
She paid tribute to her ‘courageous and strong’ friend who was found dead at her home in Australia on Sunday. ‘I’m so sad, hurt & pained to say Katie has sadly passed away, she wrote in a message to her Twitter followers.
Katie was abused by coach Paul North, who was convicted of multiple counts of sexual assault and one count of rape in 2002 and jailed for ten years.
Former Sky Sports presenter Charlie Webster (pictured), who presented Nowhere to Run: Abused by Our Coach for the BBC, broke the news of her friend’s death on her Twitter account. Webster was also abused by North
Ms Webster, 40, explained that she and Katie met through being part of the same running club in Sheffield when they were children. She said the pair were best friends at the time, describing the running group as being ‘like a family’.
In 2021, Ms Webster went on to make the hard-hitting documentary about how their respected coach, Paul North, preyed on the young girls – grooming her and her friends and subjecting some of them to horrific sexual assault.
‘Katie is my friend, was part of my running group that I made my BBC documentary Nowhere to Run: Abused by Our Coach about. Katie died by suicide,’ she said.
‘We were so tight-knit, we shared everything, our ups, winning races and smashing personal bests, and our downs, pushing ourselves in training and the pressures our coach put on us,’ Ms Webster wrote on a GoFundMe page set up to help Katie’s mother repatriate her body from Australia.
‘What Katie and I didn’t share, as did none of us at the time, is the sexual abuse we were suffering at the same time, at the hands of our coach.
‘Our coach preyed on us, he manipulated us, and he got in our heads. He created friction in the group, fear and pitted us against each other, all to make sure nobody told anybody what was going on. We were just children,’ Ms Webster wrote.
She said Katie bravely faced North in court, and helped put him behind bars.
In 2021, Charlie Webster went on to make the hard-hitting documentary about how their respected coach, Paul North, preyed on the young girls – grooming her and her friends and subjecting some of them to horrific sexual assault. Pictured: A young Ms Webster with North in a photograph shown in the documentary
Pictured: Webster and Katie’s running club seen in an old photograph that featured in the 2021 BBC documentary
‘She was incredibly courageous, strong and so brave to stand up in court and testify against him. Paul North got 10 years in prison. Katie saved so many other children from being sexually abused by this abhorrent rapist. We know there were girls abused before us but Katie made sure there were none after us.’
Katie went on to make a new life for herself in Australia, Katie said in her tribute, having struggled for years with the trauma from the abuse.
‘Katie tried to start a new life in Australia, coping the best way she could and fighting every step of the way, she was an incredible and dedicated athlete. Katie achieved an elite level in Muay Thai, CrossFit and yoga through adversity,’ Ms Webster wrote.
‘The thing about the trauma of sexual abuse, it doesn’t just go away. What happened to Katie made her feel worthless like she wasn’t enough, and it impacted her mental health, as is common for all survivors, me including.’
Ms Webster said recently, Katie’s parents had been trying to persuade her to come home to the UK. Now, the athlete’s family have been left ‘utterly distraught’ after ‘Katie’s mum had a knock on her door […] that is every mother’s worst nightmare.’
Now, the broadcaster wrote, ‘she just wants to get her back to lay her to rest’.
‘Katie was a daughter, a sister, an auntie, and a friend – with a cheeky sense of humour, a determined nature and a twinkle in her eye,’ she said.
‘Katie deserved so much better. We want to do everything to honour Katie the way she deserves, to speak her name, live her legacy to continue to help other survivors of abuse, and for Katie to be grieved and celebrated.
‘To show Katie she was and is loved.’
Former Sky Sports presenter Charlie Webster broke the news on Twitter (pictured)
As of Friday, January 13, the GoFundMe page had recieved over £6,000 of the £5,000 target to get Katie repatriated to the UK, after just one day of being online.
The documentary saw Ms Webster track down her old running group and speak to them about their own experiences of being abused by North.
He was arrested when Ms Webster was 19 and in the BBC documentary she recalled reading a newspaper article detailing his crimes: ‘It was only then I realised I wasn’t the only one he had abused. I just felt utter embarrassment.’
Charlie had cut off all contact with the girls from her running club in Sheffield, but decided to contact them after receiving an email from the mother of one of her friends, saying her daughter had also been abused by the coach.
But the documentary ended with Charlie finally meeting up with her running group to discuss their experiences, and the presenter said she decided to make the film in order to prevent abuse in the future.
‘I just want to make sure nobody else goes through it’, she said at the time.
‘That’s what I just wanted to do and for people to understand why, to really understand why this has to stop. The people that ignore or cover up, this is what you’re ignoring and covering up.’
According to archived reports from November 2002, North denied raping a 15-year-old girl three times, and indecently assaulting her nine times.
He also denied indecently assaulting another 15-year-old girl.
However, he was found guilty at Sheffield Crown Court of raping his first victim once and indecently assaulting her on seven occasions. He was also convicted of indecently assaulting the second girl.
He was found not guilty of two further rapes and two further indecent assaults.
Reports from the time say his crimes came to light when another member of the running club, also 15 at the time, reported that she had been indecently assaulted by North to her father straight after the incident.
North was sentenced to 10 years for the assaults, which reports said took place over the span of two years, and was set to be placed on the sex offenders register for the rest of his life.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised by this article, for confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.
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