Child victim raped in Leeds flat almost 30 years ago tells court: 'He continues to ruin my life'
A woman who was raped by a man in a Leeds flat when she was a child told him that he continues to ruin her life, 30 years later.
Defiant Derrick Beach was convicted after a trial at Leeds Crown Court of three counts of rape involving two victims and coercive control.
He was handed a 16-year jail sentence this week.
His first victim, who was around 13 in the mid 1990s, had her victim impact statement read to the court during his sentencing hearing.
Read by prosecutor Catherine Duffy, the woman, who is now in her 40s, said she had put the painful memories of Beach in her “mental filing cabinet and thrown away the key”.
She added: “At the age of 13 he ruined my life. Never did I ever think this would happen to me. He stole my childhood.
“He f****** up my family, he f***** up my life. He made me feel disgusted, ashamed and unworthy.
“I was forced to continue as though nothing had happened. He was well known and had a high status in the community.
“He continues to ruin my life and has done since that day.”
The court was told that Beach, now 57, befriended the youngster in the mid 1990s, before inviting her to a flat in Harehills.
She later told police that Beach pushed her onto a filthy, bare mattress and raped her after giving her alcohol and cannabis.
He told her to “shush” when she protested and told her that “nobody needed to know”.
He continued to make sexual advances towards her until she moved out of the area. She later returned to Leeds and saw Beach in a bar, where he verbally abused her before hitting her with a champagne bottle.
In 2023 she mustered the courage to tell the police. Also in that year, a second victim came forward to say she too had been raped multiple times by Beach.
His second victim read out her own impact statement to the court, saying that she too had “suffered in silence” and despite pressing ahead with charges, nobody believed her.
She added: “The only hope I had was the police. This man changed my life. It has left an everlasting effect on me and my family.
“I’m no longer the person I used to be. I don’t trust anyone. This has traumatised my life.”
Beach, of Beechwood View, Burley, had denied all allegations, but was found guilty after a seven-day trial that concluded on July 2.
The court heard that he has previous convictions, but none for sexual offences.
Mitigating on his behalf, Glenn Parsons conceded he was limited on what he could say because Beach continues to deny all offences, but he was prepared for a long stint behind bars.
Judge Alex Menary gave him the lengthy sentence, put him on the sex offender register for life and gave him a lifelong restraining order.