Sheffield man who sexually abused girl, 8, is finally jailed as victim who suffered nightmares and flashbacks speaks out about her 'life sentence'

Anthony Hardcastle, of Hawthorn Road, High Green, has been jailed today for offences which started in 1978 and continued until the early 1980s.He was convicted after a Sheffield Crown Court trial after his victim, aged only eight when the offences began, reported indecent assaults she said had blighted her life over many years.

Judge Roger Thomas QC told 63-year-old Hardcastle: “You had not been in trouble with the courts or the police over the years, but you have been convicted last week of six offences of indecent assault. These date back to the late 70s and early 80s, beginning in 1978 and the early part of 1979 when you were 20 years of age.

"From those formative years, she (the victim) was subjected to these offences.”

He told him the damage done to his victim, who was left scared and confused by what had happened, had carried through to her adult years and caused her severe psychological harm, before she finally disclosed what happened in 2019.

For count one of the charges, he jailed Hardcastle for three years, plus another year to add at the end due to the type of offence.

For count three, he was jailed for two years to run concurrently, with sentences of one year each for three more counts, to run concurrently. On count eight, he was jailed for three years, to run consecutively.