My uncle sexually abused me on my grandma's farm - 40 years later I'm finally free

Jayne Emsley, now 56, was just 12 when Martin Glynn Whittle, now 72, forced himself upon her in a home after getting her drunk on cider at a working men's club. She then felt she had to keep the harrowing experience a "secret", which 'robbed' her of her childhood and 'damaged' her relationship with her mother.

Jayne, who has waived her right to anonymity, was moved to report the assault to police in May 2022 after reading about another high-profile abuse case. Whittle was found guilty following a trial of indecent assault on a child aged under 14 years and sentenced to four and half years in jail on August 12.

While Jayne felt "glad" that the retired miner had finally got his "comeuppance", she said she would never get over what he had done to her.

She said: "There's nothing that's going to take away from what he robbed from me - my whole childhood, obviously my innocence, and my relationship with my mum. It's never going to stop the nightmares. Nothing is going to stop it being the first thought and the last thought for the rest of my life. That's never going to go away.

"However, I'm finally free from having a secret - the biggest secret anyone could ever keep. And I haven't got that secret any more. I do feel a bit like an open book now. I felt glad that it was over and glad that I'd done it… I was glad he got his comeuppance and also glad that family members now know."

Jayne, from Pontefract, is now calling on other victims of historic sexual abuse to report them to police - no matter the age of the incident.

She added: "I would encourage anybody to go to the police. They are very, very well-equipped and professional in the way they deal with it. They've got so much empathy and understanding and they have specially trained police officers. They know what they are doing and they will believe you."

Jayne and her younger sister had gone to stay at her grandad's farm in Lepton, near Huddersfield, for the summer holiday when the assault took place in August 1981. She said Whittle had arrived at the address on a weekend and then offered to take the two siblings out for the day.

Jayne, who had never drunk alcohol before, claims he then plied with cigarettes and cider at a working men's club he brought them to. After she had become intoxicated, she said Whittle took the pair back to a home where he sexually assaulted her while her sister played downstairs.

Jayne remembered: "He gave us cigarettes and he bought us what I now know was cider. I had too much to drink. I'd never had alcohol before. I ended up getting stuck in the toilets, and he took us back to his house. It was a 'one up one down' house. It had one bedroom upstairs with a shower room in the corner. And he took me upstairs and I lay on the bed."

She added: "I was in absolute distress over what he had done to me. He told me not to tell anybody - saying nobody would believe me.”

Jayne said when she later returned home to her parents, she found out that they had separated. She later ran away from home as a teenager when her unwitting mum Hazel Ashby made plans to move closer to where Whittle lived.

Jayne never told her what had happened before her passing in December 2000, and said the incident had a "massive effect" on their relationship.

Two years ago, after she learned of a high-profile sexual abuse case involving children, she suddenly felt the urge to report Whittle to the police.

She said: "I literally put my iron down and walked up to the police station and said, 'I want to make a complaint about a historical sexual abuse crime'."

Specially trained officers took Jayne's experience seriously and she followed the case as it went through the legal process and then to trial at Leeds Crown Court.

Whittle was finally sent to prison following his guilty verdict and was put on the sex offenders register.

Jayne said about the outcome: "I wouldn't say it was a sense of relief, as I don't think I'll ever get any relief from it. But I felt glad that it was over and glad that I'd done it. I have got a nice life now, but I'll always have this hanging over me."

Following the case, Detective Constable Yvonne Brear of West Yorkshire Police commended Jayne for coming forward and giving evidence.

She said: "Whittle has committed a truly appalling offence, and we welcome the custodial sentence imposed on him. I want to praise the victim who came forward in this case whose bravery in making the initial report allowed us to fully investigate Whittle's offending, making sure he was put before the courts to answer for what he did.

"I hope the sentencing can give the victim some closure, and the case demonstrates to victims of sexual offences that it is never too late to contact us if you have been victim to such abuse"