Smiling and shirtless with a young boy on his lap, he was hiding in plain sight

Red-faced, bare-chested and grinning to himself, David Marsh told the camera in his strong northern accent: “We are all enjoying ourselves”.

A young boy, blurred to protect his identity, jumped on his lap, laughing and playing. Marsh, then a somewhat young-looking man, smiled down at him.

It was a glimpse into his ‘deviant sexual appetite’ for children, one that would see him go on to groom and sexually abuse six victims in Rochdale.

READ MORE: Two men jailed after grooming ‘troubled and vulnerable’ young boys before vile sexual abuse

Following a four-week trial at Minshull Street Crown Court, Marsh, now 74, was found guilty of numerous offences of indecent assault, rape and attempted rape. The court heard how he and another man, Anthony Whitehead, groomed the boys in the 80s and 90s with cigarettes, cash and alcohol before sexually abusing them.

In emotive statements, the men detailed the trauma they had endured over the last 30 years, with one victim stating: “I literally was a broken man.”

Now, as they have both been handed lengthy terms in prison, Greater Manchester Police have released a video of Marsh’s disturbing behaviour whilst he was holidaying in Thailand.

In the 19-second clip, recorded around the time of the offences, Marsh films himself with a young boy on his lap. He appears shirtless, wearing large glasses and sporting a short haircut.

Marsh smiles whilst putting his arm around the boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, then appears to cover the boy’s face with his hand whilst smiling at the camera. He then says: “We are all enjoying ourselves” before a young boy leans into the shot.

In a second video, recorded on the day of his arrest in August 2020, the body-worn footage from a police