A MAN aged 67 has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of years of systematic sexual and physical abuse of members of his family.
A Belfast Crown Court jury found the west Belfast man guilty of 36 charges of violence and abuse against his wife and three eldest daughters. Some offences dated back more than 40 years.
The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victims, was given five concurrent 10-year terms for specimen charges of raping the eldest girl from the time she was 14 in 1971 until she left home at the age of 19. The court was told the children had been subjected to physical abuse and cruelty from a very young age, and that the sexual abuse of the eldest girl resulted in her becoming pregnant with a son, born in 1974. She gave evidence that the rapes had continued after she returned home with the baby until she left for England.
The defendant was sentenced to lesser concurrent terms on the other charges, which included indecent assault, gross indecency, assault causing actual bodily harm and cruelty to children.
Passing sentence, Mr Justice Gillen told the defendant: "You used these young children as an outlet for your sexual inclinations and violent activities. You have shown not a shred of remorse for what you have done and have exposed your victims to the trauma of reviving their sad memories in court," the judge said.
It was necessary for the court to mark its condemnation and to show that others could look to the courts for protection.
Mr Justice Gillen said he took into account the fact that at the defendant's age prison would be a much harder experience, especially as a sex offender.