Mechanic Assuerro Burichi was the trusted car repair man who would fix children's bikes.
But he had a darker side to his character, subjecting two young boys to sexual abuse.
Now the 90-year-old Hatton man, who committed the crimes in the 1970s and 80s, is likely to die in prison.
Buricchi, of Green Lane was jailed for seven years
at Warwick Crown Court on Thursday after being convicted of 16 counts of sexual abuse.
He denied the charges, and early in his trial was pushed into the court in a wheelchair by his son.
The case was even adjourned so doctors could make sure Buricchi, who wore a hearing aid in each ear, was fit to stand trial.
But during an eight-day trial at Coventry Crown Court, which has better wheelchair access, it emerged the elderly defendant had subjected his victims to repeated assaults - even threatening to cut off one boy's arm if he revealed the crimes.
The court heard how in the mid-1970s Buricchi lived in a village in the Hatton area, where he was known for repairing cars for local people and mending children's bikes.
In that way, he got to know his first victim, then ten years old, and began to indecently assault him before progressing to worse attacks.
Buricchi moved on to his second young victim in the early 1980s, beginning when the boy was just four years old.
He forced his victims to keep quiet, threatening to kill them if they told anyone.
One victim told the jury how Buricchi held his arm next to a circular saw and threatened to cut it off after he said he was going to tell his father.
At Warwick Crown Court, Judge Malcolm Ross jailed Buricchi for seven years and ordered him to register as a sex offender for life.
He told him: "I know that I am passing a sentence from which you may not be released, but these are some of the worst cases of their kind that this court has had to consider.
"The effect on the jurors was plain for all to see. It was harrowing evidence.
"The description of the threat of a most appalling nature, the amputation of a boy's arm with a circular saw, would chill the blood of anyone listening to it."
The offences only came to light last year when first one of the victims and then the other revealed the extent of their ordeals to the police.
