'He makes me feel physically sick': Victim confronts Leeds paedophile in court over the years of suffering he caused her since abusing her as a child

A judge described the woman's courage as "remarkable" as he jailed John Firth for nine years over the sickening abuse he subjected her to when she was a child.

The 74-year-old sat in the dock at Leeds Crown Court as the woman told the sentencing hearing of the torment she had gone through in the years since the abuse.

The woman, now aged in her twenties, told Firth: "No length of prison sentence will ever be good enough.

"There is no amount of years you could spend in prison to give me justice.

"This will stay with me for the rest of my life."

The court heard Firth targeted the victim when she was a girl and subjected her to abuse which left her in pain.

Michael Morley, prosecuting, said the girl was too afraid to tell anyone for years afterwards.

She eventually found the courage to break her silence after getting in touch with Childline.

The woman told her mother about the abuse after receiving advice and support from the counselling service.

Firth, of Blackett Street, Calverley, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexually assaulting a girl under the age of 13 and one count of assaulting a child under the age of 13 by penetration.

The victim told the court of the suffering Firth had caused her.

She said: "He used his responsibility of power he had as an adult to abuse me.

"I want a new body that has not been touched by him."

The woman told Firth that he had committed "selfish and cruel acts" upon her.

She added: "It is so unfair that I have to live with the aftermath of something that someone else has done to me. Something that I did not consent to.

"Why did you pick me out of all the people on earth? Why did you pick me?"