A TEENAGE boy who repeatedly raped his little sister has been jailed for six years.

Now the 17-year-old, who referred to the girl as a ‘thing’ when he spoke to psychologists, has been banned from contacting her again.

The boy, who is from the Parks area and cannot be named for legal reasons, was 12 when the systematic abuse of the girl, then 10, began.

He used his greater size and age to force himself on the child, telling her she was ‘the only girl around’ when she asked why he was doing it.

He also intimidated the girl into not telling anyone about the abuse.

But when she was asked about why she had stopped eating late in 2011, she revealed the abuse her brother had put her through.

The girl, then aged 13, said she had been molested and raped by him on a weekly basis since the age of eight.

However the boy only admitted raping her on five occasions, the first when she was 10, and sexually assaulting her one more time.

When he was questioned by the police, he initially denied any wrongdoing, but eventually admitted the six offences.

The boy pleaded guilty to five counts of rape and one of sexual assault of a child. He pleaded not guilty to two rapes, five counts of sexual activity with a child, two of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and one of causing a child to watch sexual activity. Those will lie on file.

Andrew Hobson, defending, said his client had experienced a terrible upbringing, having been abandoned by his mother when he was small.

He said his client was keen to do what he could to change and wanted the help to prevent him reoffending.

Mr Hobson urged the court not to impose a jail term to allow him to undertake rehabilitative work in the community.

But Judge Euan Ambrose, sitting at Swindon Crown Court, said the case was so serious that only a lengthy period of detention could be considered.

He also imposed a restraining order banning him from contact with his sister.