A 47-year-old former Halesowen man has been jailed for 14 years for a string of historic sex attacks on a young girl in the town.

Recorder Denis Desmond told Richard Davenport the offences were so serious only a substantial spell behind bars was appropriate.

Davenport had pleaded not guilty to two charges of raping a girl under 13 years of age and to three charges of indecent assault.

But he was convicted on all charges by the five man - seven woman jury on unanimous verdicts at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

The panel retired for just under two and a half hours to consider the evidence at the end of his three-day trial.

The offences, the jury were told, were all committed between 1982 and 1988 and began when Davenport was a teenager.

Nick Cartwright, prosecuting, said the victim had been badly damaged psychologically by the offending.

He said it had affected her life, it continued to do so and she had been “unable to move on”.

Keith Thomas, defending Davenport who held his head in his hands as the jury returned their verdicts, said there had been no other matters of a sexual nature since the end of his offending.

“He must have realised this fateful day would arrive,” said Mr Thomas, who told the court his client had lost his job as a result of the offences.

Davenport, who had been living in the Argyll area of Scotland, pleaded guilty to two other charges of indecent assault before his trial began.

He told the jury there had been sexual touching but only on one occasion.

“There was never any other sexual activity between us,” he told the court, adding: “There was never any penetration and I never simulated sex with her.”

The offences finally came to light when the girl revealed to a family member what had been going on and the police were notified.

When he was arrested by officers in Scotland he told them: “It’s a lie.”

The Recorder told Davenport, who had worked for a time with the Treasury Department in London, he would have to register as a Sex Offender for the rest of his life.