A court was informed of a disturbing case where a young girl, starting at the age of six, was subjected to rape and abuse by three generations within her own family, while her mother failed to intervene.

According to the jury, the girl, whose identity remains protected, suffered sexual abuse and assault from her grandfather, father, and two brothers.

Despite being aware of the rapes and sexual assaults, the girl’s mother responded by abusing her daughter further—beating her, tying her up, and confining her in a cupboard instead of preventing the ongoing abuse.

The abuse began when the girl was just six years old and carried on until she was 12.

The child was beaten, burnt, raped and neglected by three generations of her own family, Jennifer Knight KC told a jury at Lewes Crown Court.

The situation came to light after the girl, placed in foster care since January following her family’s arrest, expressed her fears about returning home to a teacher, Ms. Knight explained.

Six family members appeared in court, facing 41 charges including child rape, sexual assaults, physical harm, false imprisonment, and obstruction of justice. All pleaded not guilty.

The girl detailed horrific physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her family in a video recorded statement lasting three hours. 

Her father beat her with a horse-whip, burning her with his cigarettes, spitting in her face and pulling her hair, the court heard. 

She said her father raped her many times and her eldest brother, who is 10 years older, abused her from when she was six or seven.

The brother raped her from when she was nine and would beat her if she refused, she said.

He would bribe his sister with lego, the court heard. 

‘When she objected, saying this was wrong and he shouldn’t do it, he threatened her, saying that he would tell their mother what she was doing with their father,’ Ms Knight said. 

When the mother found her daughter being sexually abused by her brother, he was beaten until his arm was broken. 

The girl’s grandfather also sexually abused her from when she was around 10.

‘He told her how much he wanted to go to bed with her, but he never tried to do so,’ Ms Knight said.    

She also said she remembered being hit by her mother aged three, with many ‘different implements including large metal cooking spoons, sandals and wooden pole sticks’.

She also said her mother would burn her with a candle and lighter and would lock her in a cupboard overnight with her arms and legs tied with rope and tape over her mouth. 

She describes her mother making sure that her burns never quite healed properly and putting salt on them to make them hurt, Ms Knight said.  

Her mother told her having her as a daughter made her life hell, so she would make her life hell in return, the jury was told. 

The family was arrested in January but when on bail they pressured the girl to change her story and say she had made the allegations up, Ms Knight said.

The mother told her daughter that the whole family was suffering because of what she had said.

‘She said her grandfather was too old to be in prison for life,’ Ms Knight said.

In later police interviews, the girl said she had made up the allegations of physical abuse.

She said that she had also lied about being locked in the shoe cupboard.

‘She said that her mother had always fed her, looked after her and treated her fairly.

‘She maintained however that all the sexual things she had described her grandfather, father and brothers doing to her were true and had happened as she described.’

In the following months, she continued to tell social workers and police she had made up the allegations and was going to tell the court that she had lied. 

She told police she was going to lie to protect her family because she loved them, Ms Knight said.

‘She said that she wanted to protect her family at court. 

‘She said “the truth I say will put my family in a worse position and I don’t want that”.’

Ms Knight added: ‘The prosecution suggest however that she gave truthful accounts in January and March of this year, when she described at length the conditions of her home life, and the abuse she has suffered at the hands of both her grandfather, parents and siblings.

‘You may think she has found the pressure of telling the truth about her family too much to bear, particularly in the face of her mother’s having impressed upon her the many ways in which she has ruined all their lives.’

The trial at Lewes Crown Court continues.