The owner of a group of children’s homes has been jailed for 14-and-a-half years for sexually abusing boys in his care.

John Allen, who was the owner and manager of the Bryn Alyn Community homes in north Wales, was sentenced for offences against five boys committed between 1976 and 1992.

Allen, a former hotelier who set up care homes in and around the Wrexham area despite having no training in childcare, was already serving a life sentence for abusing 18 vulnerable boys as young as seven, as well as one girl.

Sentencing him for the further offences at Mold crown court in north Wales, the judge, Rhys Rowlands, said Allen had used his position of trust to groom and abuse children, and had showed no remorse.

The judge said the care homes had seemed successful and local authorities paid large fees in the expectation that those placed would be looked after “in a safe and caring environment”. Rowlands added: “For many youngsters, it was quite the opposite.”

A jury found Allen guilty of seven counts of indecent assault and another serious sexual offence.

Victims told in impact statements how Allen had ruined their lives. Now middle-aged, some said they had turned to alcohol and drugs to try to blot out what he did to them, and some had tried to kill themselves.

One victim said he was no longer frightened of Allen but would never forgive him. “Once he started to attack me, I tried to avoid him at all costs. The only option to escape was to run away, which I did on a number of occasions,” he said.

Another victim said that within six months of leaving care, he began to take heroin to forget Allen. “My life did not turn out as I had hoped,” he said.

A third victim said he had turned to alcohol and had tried to take his own life on two occasions, while another said Allen made him feel dirty and he had self-harmed to try to take the pain away. “He should have been caring for me. His interest was his own sexual satisfaction and desires,” he said.

Eleanor Laws QC, the prosecuting barrister, told the jury Allen was a “formidable presence” at the homes. “Boys were picked out, groomed and turned into his favourites,” she said.

He would offer gifts or money, or simply cause them to be in such fear of him that he was able to abuse them regularly, the barrister said.

“Most of the abused had to learn to live with it as they felt there was no other option. But for most of them, the abuse took its toll. Most describe carrying the weight of that abuse with them still today,” Laws said.

Some boys tried to disclose the abuse to authorities, including the police, at the time, but were often ignored or disbelieved. Most said nothing, either out of shame or because they would not be believed, Laws said.

Most of the victims in the latest trial came forward as a result of the publicity surrounding the earlier trial of Allen in 2014.

The National Crime Agency said Allen would sexually abuse the boys in one of his cars, offices, at hotels or in the snooker room at his home in Wrexham.

The five victims were between the ages of 12 and 16 when they were first abused. One said Allen regularly tried to locate him around various homes, and he used to hide under the seats of the community handyman’s van, who would protect him from Allen.

Another told NCA investigators Allen rented a flat for him to live in, which Allen would occasionally visit, where he would subject him to sexual acts.

The NCA’s senior investigating officer, Philip Marshall, said: “Allen used his position of trust to abuse boys who were young, vulnerable and from disadvantaged backgrounds.

“He controlled and manipulated his victims, and rewarded them by giving cash and gifts that any young boy would want.

“The victims have been incredibly courageous coming forward to the NCA many years later and recounting the abuse they were subject to.”

Operation Pallial – the independent NCA investigation into allegations of past abuse in the care system in North Wales – began in November 2012.

Thirteen people have been convicted under Operation Pallial. There is one further trial scheduled for later this month. So far, 375 people have contacted Operation Pallial.