Craig Smith 28

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The parents of a young girl who suffered ongoing nightmares after she was sexually abused have been left "heartbroken" and "disgusted" at what happened to her – but they are relieved that she has finally got justice.

They hope that the jailing of the girl's abuser will mark "part of the road to recovery" for her after the "deeply unpleasant" incident, Hull Crown Court heard.

Craig Smith, 27, of Priory Grove, west Hull, denied sexually assaulting the girl on April 28 last year but he was convicted by a jury after a trial.

The court heard that Smith intimately touched the girl after pulling down her underwear. The incident had caused serious problems for her, including nightmares and dreams that started soon afterwards.

Her family hoped that these would become less as she got older but they feared that they would not.

Smith had previous convictions, including being locked up for 15 months in 2014 for wounding and others of criminal damage, burglary and arson. He had no previous convictions for sexual offences.

Defence barrister Nigel Clive said: "There's little that can be said by way of mitigation." There were "deeply unpleasant elements" to the offending but there was no significant planning and no use of alcohol or drugs. Smith was relatively lightly convicted.

"Thankfully, for all, this is not the worst offence of its type," said Mr Clive. "There are other offences which, regrettably, are far worse than this." With the passing of time, it was hoped that that the memory of the incident would "fall away" in the girl's mind.

Judge Kate Rayfield told Smith: "You thought you could get away with touching her. She still has nightmares and flashbacks to what happened."

This was an example of "just how far-reaching sexual abuse can be" and it would have to be seen what the lasting effects on the girl would be.

"You have been sentenced to custody before, although many years ago," said Judge Rayfield.

Smith was jailed for four years and he was given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order. He will have to register as a sex offender for life.

After the hearing, the girl's mother said: "We would have liked longer but are happy that she has found some justice. We are so glad that that she could come to us and that we finally got something back for her." She said of Smith: "We are just disgusted."

The girl's father said: "We are heartbroken. It's hard to put it into words. We got justice for her. She can rest easy. It's part of the road to recovery for her.

"We hope that it's all done and dusted and that we can keep her happy and smiling."