Derbyshire man jailed for over seven years for the rape of a young girl

Alan Lamb, now 33, targeted the child, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, in the years leading up to 2009 when he was still a teenager.

Derby Crown Court heard the defendant had full intercourse with the child on one occasion however continued to sexually abuse her until her family went to police.

He was found guilty of one count of rape of a child under 13 and two counts of sexual assault following a trial.

Jailing Lamb for seven-and-half years today Recorder Adrian Reynolds told him his victim’s adolescent years had been “grossly disfigured” by the abuse.

He told the defendant: “She was very young when this started, certainly too young to appreciate that what you were doing was wrong.”

The court heard Lamb’s abuse of the young girl came to an end in 2009 following a complaint to the police by a member of her family, but nothing came of the complaint at the time.

Judge Reynolds said: “However if it was the end of the abuse it was only the beginning of the trauma that she has suffered as a result of it.

“Her teenage years were characterised by self-harm and suicide attempts - her adolescent years, which should have been amongst the happiest of her life - were grossly disfigured by your treatment.

“It is clear and enormously sad to contemplate that your abuse has adversely affected her ability to engage in normal sexual relationships.

The court heard in 2017 that Lamb’s victim confronted him with a “detailed” social media message about his crimes.

Recorder Reynolds told Lamb: “The idea that this was the behaviour of someone making a false complaint as you suggested at trial is ridiculous.

“Despite your inability to acknowledge what you did I hope now somewhere within yourself, now that you’re older, you can feel shame at how you have damaged her life.”

The judge told Lamb the “safest conclusion” he could draw was that he was aged under 18 at the time of the most serious offence of rape and there had been no other similar offending since.

He said: “I regard what happened as of its time and context and unlikely to be repeated but it is deadly serious to rape a child of this age.”

Will Bennett, mitigating for Lamb, told the judge it was clear Lamb was “not an intellectually sophisticated man” while giving evidence during his trial.

He added: “When one looks at age and maturity your honour may be able to infer a certain amount of immaturity on the part of the defendant at the age of 16.

“It was not repeated over a significant period of time - it is perhaps more indicative of somebody having matured, grown up and changed their ways.”

Lamb, of Valley Road, Shirebrook, was jailed for seven-and-a-half years and told he must serve at least three-quarters of his sentence.

He will also be subject to the sex offenders register for life.

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