Daniel Holmes 33

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A traumatised young girl was left suffering nightmares and serious "mentally torturing" problems after she was "led down a dark path" of sexual abuse that "twisted" her brain.

She "went off the rails" because of what happened to her and she felt that she had lost everything because of the "constant trauma" of her ordeal, a court heard.

Daniel Holmes, 33, formerly of Grimsby, was convicted by a jury of attempted rape of a girl under 13, sexual assault and assault by penetration during an incident in the town. The verdicts came after a trial at Grimsby Crown Court that ended on March 7.

Craig Lowe, prosecuting, told a sentencing hearing at Hull Crown Court that the girl was left with injuries after the sexual abuse. She told the court in a statement that she would have to live with the impact of what happened to her for the rest of her life.

She said that the sexual abuse "twisted my brain" and she "went off the rails" because of it. "This man has ruined my life," she said. "He has taken everything away from me. His actions have changed me as a person. He has taken my innocence."

The life that she was born to have had been taken away from her. "My relationship with men has been warped because of him," she said. "I have lost out on my future."

She suffered nightmares of Holmes and she had "always felt dirty". It was "mentally torturing" and she struggled with this daily. "I was led down a dark path of what I thought was normal," she said.

The girl suffered "constant trauma" in her life. "My life has been in pieces because of what happened," she said. She and her family had to try to put together that which Holmes smashed. "I know that this will always be with me," she said. "For me, it's a life sentence."

Dale Brook, mitigating, said that any offence of this sort was likely to cause some psychological impact on a victim but the girl said in her first statement: "All in all, I'm better now." The offences happened on a single occasion.

"These are incredibly serious offences," said Mr Brook. Holmes had no previous similar convictions. "There has been a lack of offending since the incident took place a few years ago," said Mr Brook.

Holmes had two warnings for arson and shoplifting when he was aged 14 and 15, the court. There were two references for him. "The references talk about him in very positive terms," said Mr Brook.

Judge Richard Woolfall told Holmes: "You took away her innocence. She has had to endure the memory of that. As a result of what you did to her, she hates herself and she feels like everything has been taken away from her. She has lost her self-worth.

"These are very serious offences indeed. You are in denial. There is no remorse that you have expressed. You have maintained your innocence. You maintain that she is not telling the truth.

"There is, therefore, no remorse. I can't make any reduction because you haven't expressed any remorse. There is an element here of targeting a vulnerable child."

Holmes, recently of North Street, Cannock, Staffordshire, was jailed for 13 years. He was given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and an indefinite restraining order. He had been in custody on remand while awaiting sentence following conviction but he was originally on bail.