A PENSIONER who systematically sexually abused a young girl in the 1970s may die behind bars after a judge jailed him for eight years and eight months.

William Chamberlain, 66, stole the vulnerable youngster's innocence when he repeatedly abused her between the ages of five and nine, threatening to kill her family if she told.

The court heard that years of alcoholism and the onset of dementia meant he may never be free again.

Charles Thomas, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court that Chamberlain started to abuse the child when she was just five years old in 1971.

Mr Thomas said that as the abuse continued he told her that he would kill her family if she told anyone about what he had been doing.

He said the impact of the offending had been significant on the victim both as a child and as she grew up in to adulthood.

Chamberlain, formerly of Beethoven Street, pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault on a child and one of gross indecency.

He had to be sentenced under the law at the time of the offending when the maximum terms were five years for indecent assault and two years for indecency.

It was pointed out that current guidelines for what he did could have meant a starting point of 16 years before aggravating and mitigating factors were considered.

Rob Ross, defending, said the victim deserves credit for her honesty in telling the police what he did to her, resisting the temptation to 'over egg the pudding'.

He said: "It is gratifying to see how well she has made her life bearing in mind what happened to her when she was young."

A neuropsychiatrist's report on his client 'indicates a man in a sorry state', he said, putting him just below the rating for dementia.

He said: "While he is not a man who these days would be described as elderly his physical condition and mental condition are way beyond that now.

"Possibly a lengthy custodial sentence will see him never being released.

"It is clear the prison services will have to take good care of him because of the difficulties he has got and the declining mental health he will have over the years.

"He has never been to prison. He has had no reoffending over many, many years.

"All I can do on his behalf is indicate to the victim that he trusts that she is able to receive closure now and get on with her life knowing that he had accepted what he did to her."

Jailing him, Judge Tim Mousley QC said: "Many years ago when the victim was aged five to nine years old you systematically abused her.

"You were able to take such gross and extreme advantage of her because she was at such a tender age that she knew no better.

"It is very difficult to contemplate someone that would be more vulnerable to what was described as your predatory and manipulative behaviour.

"You took away her innocence and you ruined her life. The ripples of that spread out so that affected those close to her.

"She has had to wrestle with what you did to her for 40 years now. Some would say it is remarkable she made such a success of her life with that in the back of her mind.

"You made the most wicked threats to her as to what would happen to her family if she told anyone as to what was going on."