Man jailed for abusing relatives

A man who sexually abused three close family members when they were children has been jailed for six years.

The 58-year-old Belfast man, who cannot be identified to protect his victims, will also be placed on the sex offenders' register for life.

Belfast Crown Court heard on Friday that on various dates between September 1968 and June 1985, the man abused a sister-in-law, a brother-in-law and a nephew.

However, the jury unanimously acquitted him of four other sex charges.

Family rift

During the trial, Judge Patrick Markey directed the jury to find him not guilty of the attempted rape of another sister-in-law.

His nephew claimed that not only was he sexually abused "a very considerable number of times", but he was physically assaulted as well.

The abuse stopped in the mid-1980s when the man's nephew showed his daughter a suitcase of pornographic magazines he kept under his bed and it caused a family rift.

He was arrested and interviewed about the allegations by the police, but denied any wrong doing on his part.