'She had nowhere to escape': Leeds rapist subjected his sister to 'chilling' campaign of sexual abuse for seven years

A court heard the defendant, now aged 20, had shown no remorse over the horrific sex attacks he carried out upon his younger sibling at their home in Leeds.

Leeds Crown Court heard the brother was aged just ten when he began targeting his sister.

He regularly abused the girl over the course of seven years until she found the courage to report the offending.

The court heard harrowing details of how the offences escalated over the years from sexual assaults to violent rape offences which left the girl injured and in severe pain.

The defendant was jailed for nine years and four months after pleading guilty to six counts of rape, four counts of sexual assault and one count of causing or inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

Judge Simon Batiste told the defendant he would have imposed a sentence of 22 years imprisonment if he had committed the offences as an adult.

The judge said: "It has had the most profound affect upon her.

"She suffered a catalogue of abuse that has destroyed her childhood and formative years.

"All of that was to satisfy your sexual desires.

"While you have pleaded guilty to these offences I have detected little or no remorse, either today or in the pre-sentence report.

"It speaks of your attitude to your offending as 'chilling'.

"You carried out threats and you were manipulative in terms of carrying out your offences when she was vulnerable.

"Clearly these were carefully planned and executed offences.

"She had nowhere to escape to."

The court heard the brother would tell his sister he would kill her if she ever reported the abuse.

He would also laugh at her after committing some of the offences.

Kama Melly QC, prosecuting, said: "There was no area or place where (the victim) felt safe through her childhood to her teenage years."

As a teenager, the girl broke down and told close friends about the abuse and they encouraged her to tell a member of staff at school.

The brother laughed and refused to comment when interviewed by police about the offending.

Ms Melly said the abuse had a severe psychological affect on the victim and her education has suffered.

The victim told police: "I don't trust anyone. I don't feel safe in my home.

"I feel worthless, dirty and horrible. The memories haunt me daily."

She also said: "What annoys me is he can walk around happy when I am miserable. He did this to me for seven years. How can he be unaffected by this?"

Sean Smith, mitigating, said the his client had no previous convictions and pleaded guilty to the offences at an early stage.