A paedophile who subjected a child to a campaign of historic sexual abuse has been jailed for 16 years.

Peter Gregory, of Dover, isolated and repeatedly attacked his victim decades ago.

The 60-year-old was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court after pleading guilty to four counts of indecent assault and attempted rape.

Gregory initially denied rape but later admitted attempted rape on the day of trial, earlier this year.

Judge Mark Weekes praised the “brave” girl after telling Gregory he could not "break her dignity.”

“All sexual abuse scars forever - that is the sad, inevitable and notorious result of such offending,” he said.

"She suffered in silence, unable to speak out, the sexual abuse left her for broken...'"

“Childhood is a time of innocence, childhood should be free from care and worries - it is a time everyone should be able to look back on with happy memories.

“She suffered in silence, unable to speak out, the sexual abuse left her for broken.

“It is quite clear you had a devastating impact on her life.

He continued: “You could not, and did not remove her dignity - on the contrary she can have the comfort in knowing her evidence has been accepted and believed.

“She is to be applauded for her bravery in coming forward in that way.”

The court heard Gregory, who denied all charges when he was arrested in March 2019, had written to his victim pleading for forgiveness.

But his victim told the court in a statement of her life plagued with mental health issues brought on by the trauma she suffered at Gregory’s hands.

“She describes herself as being a prisoner after what he did to her,” prosecutor Dominic Connolly said.

He added she had since suffered PTSD, depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts, including a sense of “shock this is her life".

Mitigating, Laura Paisley told how Gregory had not offended since the abuse, with the probation service deeming him “a low risk of re-offending.”

She also highlighted Gregory, of Clarendon Street, had entered guilty pleas: “There has been remorse expressed because of this.”

Gregory was also handed an additional licence period of one year alongside a lifetime of notification requirements.