A COURT has heard a Carlisle woman’s moving account of the devastating impact on her life of being repeatedly raped as a child.

The woman’s powerful statement was read out at the city’s crown court as a judge sentenced 71-year-old Harold Nicholson.

The pensioner, of Holywell Crescent, Botcherby, had denied the allegations, but after hearing the evidence, a jury convicted him of five counts of raping the schoolgirl, who was just 11 when her ordeal began.

He was jailed for 20 years.

The victim ­— now an adult ­— penned a detailed statement about how his crimes had ruined her life, leaving her with a legacy of trauma, pain and repeated mental health breakdowns.

She described how Nicholson told her he would kill her and her relatives if she disclosed his repeated sexual abuse.

As a teenager, she rebelled, and began drinking and smoking cannabis. She also stopped regularly going to school and began to self-harm. “I was trying to deal with what was happening to me,” she said.

She had not known who she could talk to or what to do.

“Harold Nicholson drummed into me that if I told anybody, he would kill me,” she said.

As a teenager and young woman, she continued to be haunted by the abuse and the fear he instilled in her.

“I would slit my wrists,” she said. She would punch walls and windows, injuring her knuckles and cut her arms and legs. During her last breakdown, she said she went into a kind of “trance” and used a razor blade to slash her arms and legs.

Even now, years after the rapes, she struggles with anxiety and panic attacks, she said.

Isolated, and not trusting men, she felt angry, and sad, and was an emotional wreck, she said.

The woman added: “I have waited a long time for justice and I didn’t think it would happen.”

Shirlie Duckworth, the prosecutor in court, said investigators believed that the defendant carried out at least twice as many rapes on his victim as he was convicted of.

Nicholson, who continues to deny the rapes, has 70 offences on his criminal record, which include serious violence, but no previous sexual offences.

Recorder Ciaran Rankin jailed Nicholson for 20 years and placed him on the sex offenders’ register for life.

Detective Constable Kerry Gibson, of Cumbria police, praised the victim’s courage, saying: “No matter how much time has passed, support is available in Cumbria for victims of sexual offences.

“The Constabulary works closely with partner agencies to provide the appropriate support. “I’d encourage anyone who has been victim to a sexual offence to contact police so our officers can investigate. You will be supported.”

The support available to victims of sexual crimes includes:

* Victim Support is available 24/7 on 0300 303 0157 to provide help and information on support services available to victims.

* The Bridgeway is an expert team of staff who work to give as much information as possible to victims on their options. They aim to help you make your own informed decisions about your care and will work to support you in this, whatever your decisions may be. Everyone who contacts The Bridgeway is treated with respect and not judged. All staff are specially trained to work with people who have experienced rape or sexual assault. They are contactable 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Telephone: 0808 118 6432. You can also email them at info@thebridgeway.org.uk

* Safety Net, Carlisle, provides counselling to survivors and help with practical issues that support recovery including family support, criminal justice and family court, employment, training, education, housing and finances. Safety Net is open Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm, and can be contacted by phone on 01228 515 859 or email at office@safetynetuk.org