THE former Mayor of St Helens, John Beirne, has admitted a string of historic sex offences.
Beirne, 56, had been due to face trial today (Wed) but at the last minute he changed his pleas to guilty to eight of the 15 offences he faced.
He pleaded guilty at Liverpool Crown Court to sex offences with four boys aged between eight and 12 between May 1975 and February 1980.
Beirne was himself a schoolboy at that time.
The former mayor was a St Helens councillor for several decades and also stood in three general elections for the Liberal Democrats party.
Beirne, of Blackdown Grove, Parr, St Helens, was warned by Judge Robert Warnock that all sentencing options will be open when he returns for sentence on June 28 after a pre-sentence report has been prepared.
He was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register.
The other charges involving the boys, which he denies, will be laid on the file and not proceeded with at the next hearing.
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