A MAN who subjected a woman and children to sex abuse, violence and cruelty has been sent to prison for 10 years.

Patrick Day, 40, of Main Road, Hoo, near Rochester, pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to two charges of indecent assault, two of assault causing actual bodily harm and four of cruelty to a person under the age of 16.

He denied two charges of rape and two further charges of indecent assault but these were left on the court file.

Judge Andrew Patience QC told him: "I have heard details and have read from papers, an account of a sustained, sadistic and cruel course of conduct by you, against a woman and against four growing children."

DC Gill Angus, who investigated the case, said afterwards: "We have spoken to the victims and although the sentence in no way compensates for the ordeals they have suffered, they do feel this brings that ordeal to a close. They can now begin to rebuild their lives and move on.

"This has been a particularly harrowing experience for the victims and we would like to thank them for their courage in coming forward and for their patience while the case has been going through the court."

Day has had to wait more than three weeks for his sentence, since the original hearing on September 29.

One reason for this is that two of the victims wanted to be in court when sentence was pronounced. They could not be there on the day of the hearing.

Another reason was that probation officers wanted time to prepare a report on Day before sentencing.

A sexual offences prevention order, banning Day from associating with children under the age of 16 unless they are accompanied by a parent or guardian, was also imposed.

Day had been in custody since June last year. Part of this was in relation to firearms offences, for which he received an 18-months sentence.