Teenager who went to police over father's sexual abuse told she would be considered 'biggest slag going' if she took it further

'I will never be able to break free from the chains that you bound me in,' Carol Higgins tells convicted father as he is led to cells

West Yorkshire Police undated handout photo of Elliott Appleyard (PA)

A woman who was raped and sexually abused by her father when she was a teenager was told by police officers that she would be considered the “biggest slag going” when she first reported the crime, a court heard.

Carol Higgins from West Yorkshire, who has waived her right to anonymity, was raped "three or four times a week" during the 1980s by Elliott Appleyard, and was even made to wear an engagement ring belonging to his wife.

The now-49-year-old victim first reported the abuse in 1985, but was told that proceeding any further would "blacken her name”, Leeds Crown Court was told.

Ms Higgins said she also spoke to officers about the offences in 2005, 2012 and 2015, with the latter eventually leading to Appleyard's successful prosecution.

The court was told that Ms Higgins was made to pose sexually for her father whilst only wearing her underwear, and was once raped in a cabin while they were on board a Scandinavian cruise ship.

The offences were committed when she was aged between 14 and 15, the court was told.

Thirty-four years after Ms Higgins first reported the crime she was at Leeds Crown Court to watch a judge sentence her father to 20 years behind bars.

In a victim impact statement that was read out in court by prosecutor Peter Hampton, Miss Higgins told her 71-year-old father: "You took my childhood away from me, and treated me like a slave.

"For 35 years I have been made to suffer the loss of my father and my family.

"Part of me wishes that someone on the street had raped me instead, because at least then I would have had the love and support of my family."

The court heard how Appleyard, who was convicted of five counts of rape and 10 of indecent assault, ruled the household with force.

Carol Higgins smiles outside Leeds Crown Court after seeing her father Elliott Appleyard jailed (PA)

Ms Higgins was also forced to have a tattoo of his nickname put on her shoulder, which she later had removed.

She told her father in her statement: "I wanted to reach down inside my stomach and pull away the foulness that you planted inside me.

"I will never be able to break free from the chains that you bound me in."

Sitting in the public gallery of the courtroom, she waved at her abuser as he was taken down to the cells, having been sentenced to 20 years in jail.

Delivering the sentence Judge Rodney Jameson QC told the sex offender, of Denby Dale, Huddersfield: "For a 12-month period you treated Carol Higgins as your wife.

"You used her for sex, and abused her physically, as you did your own wife.

"It is not surprising that she felt then, and feels now, suffering, embarrassment, shame and even guilt."

Speaking outside court, Miss Higgins said: "I feel that justice has been served and I couldn't be happier."

Discussing her torment during the abuse, she said: "I used to wake up every morning with a scary feeling in my tummy because I didn't have anybody to love me in the way that I wanted to be loved."

West Yorkshire Police are investigating a complaint relating to the case, according to the BBC.

The force could not be contacted for comment.

Additional reporting by agencies