Description
A perverted sex offender who forced a young girl to endure a serious ordeal of the "grossest" abuse has been jailed after a jury "saw through" his lies with "no difficulty".
Gary Phelan pretended that the girl had made up "wicked lies" against him but she had told the truth and she had suffered nightmares and "heartbreaking" problems, Hull Crown Court heard. Phelan, 40, of Cogan Street, off Hessle Road, west Hull, denied sexually assaulting the girl but he was convicted by a jury in April. He had been on bail during the trial but he was remanded in custody after his conviction.
The girl's mother said in a victim statement that her daughter started having nightmares because of what happened and, some nights, she would have between one and three nightmares. "It was heartbreaking to see her like this," she said. The girl could be "so angry at times" and did not know how to deal with this.
"My ears have heard so many heart wrenching things, it has turned our world upside down." She added that she would never forgive Phelan for what he had done.
Michele Stuart-Lofthouse, mitigating, said: "There is very little that can be said after a trial in terms of mitigation, if anything at all." Phelan had no previous convictions and he had worked in the past to the best of his limited ability. He had a good work ethic but he had suffered personal difficulties.
Judge Graham Robinson said that Phelan had claimed that the girl had "made up her wicked lies" but this was not true. The offences came to light through another person, not the girl herself.
Phelan "grossly abused" the trust of the girl. "You stood your trial," said Judge Robinson. "Had you pleaded guilty at the earliest available opportunity, on the basis of the clearest of evidence, which the jury had no difficulty accepting, I would have been able to reduce your sentence by one third.
"You didn't. You ran your trial and the jury saw through your lies so there is no discount for a guilty plea. You have never been in trouble before. That counts in your favour. You have worked hard throughout your life despite your difficulties."
Phelan was jailed for four years. He was given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and he must register as a sex offender for life.