A woman slapped by her mother for reporting a sex attack when she was eight years old has finally received justice, more than 30 years later.

The victim, from Canterbury, was not believed when she reported how local musician Eugene Carberry, 73, had molested her.

Instead of receiving the protection from a loving mother, she was left frightened and confused and at the mercy of the vile pervert.

On one occasion, the former drummer with pop band the Ratchets – who drove around town in the 1970s and 1980s in a flash American left-hand drive car – told his victim that no one would ever believe her.

He then grabbed the terrified girl’s hand and threatened to put her hand into a glass with a tarantula unless she took part in a sick sex act.

But now a jury at Canterbury Crown Court has believed the victim and found the monster guilty of his sex attacks.

After convicting him unanimously, the jury returned to watch Carberry, a performer from Herne Bay but who now lives in Lancashire, being jailed for five years.

“As an eight-year-old child she really didn’t know who else she could turn to and so for the next few years that abuse continued, almost at will..." - Prosecutor Edmund Fowler

Judge Heather Norton told him she was restrained by law from handing out longer sentences because the crimes were carried out before present legislation, which carries up to life, had come into force.

Carberry had denied six charges of indecent assault and indecency with a child but it was revealed how in 1998 he had been convicted of offences going back to 1978 and jailed for 10 years.

He was released, but in 2005, was recalled to prison because of his behaviour towards children. In 2009 he breached Sexual Offences Prevention Orders three times.

Now the judge has ruled he poses a serious risk of causing serious harm to young children.

Edmund Fowler, prosecuting, told how the victim revealed Carberry was popular in the area because he was a drummer with a band.

“She was sexually abused between eight and 11 years old and told her mother.

“Her mother’s reaction was just to slap her around the face and call her a liar.

“As an eight-year-old child she really didn’t know who else she could turn to and so for the next few years that abuse continued, almost at will.

“Carberry was a bit of a celebrity at the time because he was a drummer in a band.

“The victim was a little starstruck by him. He was a bit of a character in those days, driving an American car.”

After the first attack, the victim ran home and hid behind a rack of coats because she was so frightened, but was found by her mother and scolded.

Later, Carberry tried to bribe the girl with her favourite sweets and cash but she refused to perform a sex act.

He then took her to where he kept his pet spider and told her she would have to put her hand inside the cage if she continued to resist.