‘Speak out’ appeal by abuse victim

Terry McVicar raped his daughter Rosemary, locked her in the house, forced her to use a bucket as a toilet, and nailed carpet to a window to prevent her looking outside during a six-year campaign of offending.

Leeds Crown Court heard yesterday that he had admitted rape, cruelty, indecent assault and indecency with a child.

The offences all relate to abuse committed in the early 1990s.

McVicar, who will be sentenced next week, is already serving life in prison for kidnapping and sexually assaulting young girls.

In 1997 he was given 140 hours of community service for attacking Rosemary with a spanner while she was helping him on a fairground ride.

Rosemary, who has a young son, approached police after McVicar was jailed last year for a 1990 sex attack on a four-year-old girl whom he lured from a playground by promising to buy sweets.

Waiving her right to anonymity, Rosemary said: “What happened to me will always be part of my life but I believe I am a stronger person now than I ever was and I will do everything I can to bring my child up in a strong, loving environment as every child should be.”

She added: “It’s been hard talking about all that has happened as I remembered things I had long forgotten, but I am glad I did, as taking this to court and speaking about it has brought a kind of closure to it all.

“I can now carry on with my life knowing I have done all I could to stop this happening to anyone else.”

Sophie Drake, prosecuting, told the court that McVicar would lock Rosemary in the house at weekends and stop her from having any food.

He forced her to go shoplifting for him, bought her pets which were then cruelly taken away, and hit her with his shoe and belt buckle.

Rosemary made allegations against her father when she was 15 but she withdrew them after he was arrested because she was so afraid of him.

She later became very depressed and took drugs.

She married at 21, but she felt unable to trust her husband and they split up.

“I would urge anyone who has been abused in any kind of way, whether it be a family member, friend of the family or a total stranger to speak up,” she said.

“Don’t do what I did and torture yourself for years.

“It will never leave you, but to speak up like I have done will help a great deal.”

Defence counsel Patrick Roche told the court that McVicar wished to “express to the court, and in particular his daughter, his regret for the offences he has committed”.

He added: “He has pleaded guilty to these offences and doesn’t wish to challenge what she says.”

Det Supt Colin Prime, head of West Yorkshire Police’s Operation Recall team which investigates historic rape cases, said it was one of the worst he had seen.

He said: “McVicar put his daughter through an unimaginable ordeal which will no doubt have a profound impact upon the rest of her life. He took advantage of his position of trust though lies and deception to commit a continual and often brutal catalogue of depraved acts.

“No one should have to live through such an experience and it is through Rosemary’s strength and bravery that we have been able to fully investigate his crimes.

“We have undertaken a lengthy and professional investigation to bring all the evidence before the court while supporting Rosemary along the way.

“No matter how many years have passed since such incidents occur, we will make every effort to being those responsible to justice.”