A 72-year-old British man jailed for repeatedly raping his young daughter in the 1970s while the family was living in the Illawarra has failed to have his 18-year prison sentence reduced on appeal.
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The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, subjected the woman, now in her 50s, to ongoing sexual abuse from the age of 10, even putting her on the contraceptive pill when she was 13 so she didn't fall pregnant.
He repeatedly threatened she would never see her brother again if she disclosed the abuse.
The man’s actions eventually came to light in 1976 when the girl was 14, however a police report was not made until 2010, resulting in the man being extradited from England in 2013.
He subsequently pleaded guilty to six charges of child rape and buggery and was sentenced to 18 years jail in October 2014.
Wollongong District Court judge Paul Conlon was scathing of the man’s actions, saying it was difficult to comprehend “such brutal and degrading treatment” by a father towards his own daughter.
In setting a non-parole period of nine years, Judge Conlon acknowledged it was “entirely possible” the man may die behind bars, given his age and significant health problems, which include cardiovascular disease, mild dementia, previous strokes, hypertension, diabetes and gall bladder issues.
The man’s legal team appealed the sentence to the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal in late 2016, arguing Judge Conlon had not given sufficient consideration to the man’s ill health in determining the sentence.
However, CCA justices Margaret Beazley, Robert Allan Hulme and Geoffrey Bellew last week rejected the appeal, finding Judge Conlon had made no error.
They also dismissed suggestions the sentence had been “manifestly excessive”.
“In this case there was regular sexual abuse of an extremely serious kind by a father towards his natural daughter when she was aged from 10 until 13,” the judges said.
“He appears to have had a sense of entitlement to the serious criminal mistreatment of his daughter.
“Most of the offending occurred in the family home where the child was subject to the power and authority of her tormentor.
“She had no effective choice but to submit to the sexual deprivation of a person who should have been her protector.”
Clinical psychologist Laura Durkin, who interviewed the man ahead of his sentencing, found he minimised the gravity of his actions and even blamed his daughter for what he alleged was her “promiscuity”.
He reportedly told her “it’s not rape, it’s incest and most of the time she consented”.