Jail for abuse uncle 20 years on

A man who abused his six-year-old niece 20 years ago has been jailed for a year and ordered to sign the sex offenders register for seven years.

The 33-year-old north Belfast man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victim, was found guilty of committing an act of gross indecency.

The court heard the man, a teenager at the time, assaulted his niece in the bathroom of their grandmother's house.

The judge said he had made his niece's plight worse by pleading not guilty.

The judge described the man's behaviour as "sordid and reprehensible...with no regard whatsoever for the young victim".

He said his powers were constrained by the fact that at the time, the maximum sentence for such offences was two years.

He also had to reflect the 33-year-old's age at the time of the offence.

The judge added that had he shown compassion or remorse, "the court could well have taken a different approach".