Tyler Eastley 26

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A 20-year-old man from Staines has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexual abusing a five-year-old girl.

Tyler Eastley, of Lowlands Drive, was convicted of assaulting a girl under 13 by penetration after a four-day trial at Guildford Crown Court in July 2018.

Passing sentence on Friday (November 2), Judge Alexia Durran described Eastley as "an immature young man" with a history of substance abuse who had engaged in "a degree of grooming" before assaulting his victim.

Reading a statement from the victim's mother, prosecuting barrister Allister Walker said of the victim: "She has become a different child since the incident."

The statement went on to describe the victim's changed behaviour, saying she had become afraid of men in hats and police cars, as she thought Eastley might be in the back of one.

"She felt guilty and that she was to blame," Mr Walker read.

Speaking after the trial, but before sentencing, the mother had already described how the family had struggled to come to terms with Eastley's actions.

She said: "We are devastated by what has happened.

"We feel it is very important for people to be made aware of what he has done to such a young child and we sincerely hope that this will never happen again.

Speaking in mitigation, defence barrister Rupert Hallowes said: "The fact of the matter is this defendant has had a wretched upbringing characterised by violent relationships and perpetual instability.

"He is a defendant who has never managed to form a stable relationship with anyone."

Mr Hallowes went on to say Eastley was "not a hopeless case by any stretch of the imagination" and that "he knows he must take his medicine now".

However, he added that Eastley could well serve his full sentence behind bars "if he doesn't take steps to address his offending".

Judge Durran said Eastley would spend a maximum of nine years in prison and a further period on licence, during which time he could be recalled to prison for any further offences, and that he would serve a minimum of four-and-a-half years before being considered for parole.

She also imposed a sexual harm prevention order, banning him from staying in the same house as or having unsupervised contact with girls under 16, unless their parents had been informed of his offending and consented, and said his name would be placed on the sex offenders register.