Jail for rapist dad

A west Belfast man who raped and abused his daughter and step-daughter has been sent to jail for 15 years.

The city's Crown Court heard on Tuesday that Michael Claxton, 54, from Cloona Park, systematically abused the two girls.

He was convicted of 27 charges of indecent assault, five of attempted rape and one charge of rape. The offences took place over a 13 year period from 1976.

Two trials at Belfast Crown Court heard that Claxton began to abuse his step-daughter when she was just aged five or six and it continued until she was about 19.

He began abusing his own daughter when she was about 11-years-old and continued the abuse until she was 18.

Sentencing him to the maximum period - at the time of the offence - of two years in jail for indecent assault, five years for the attempted rapes and ten years for rape, Judge Anthony Hart ordered the rape and attempted rape sentences run consecutively.

Judge Hart said that in both cases, the abuse the girls suffered "deeply affected them".

The judge said the only possible mitigating factor in the case was Claxton's health, as he had been shot in ankles and knees in 1994, but he added there was "nothing to suggest" this would cause him "undue hardship" in prison.

The victims waived their right to anonymity so that their father could be "named and shamed". Outside the court, they said they were "delighted" with the sentences.