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An 85-year-old man has been jailed for 22 years after raping and sexually assaulting a child. Bruce Marshall, 85, of Woolavington, near Bridgwater, is expected to spend the rest of his life behind bars due to non-recent sexual offences, including sexually assaulting a child in the swimming pool changing room. He was sentenced for rape, two counts of gross indecency with a child and two counts of sexual assault against a child at Exeter Crown Court on April 27. Marshall pleaded guilty to the horrific offences at an earlier hearing at the same court on March 24.

Investigating officers visited the home of the victim to inform them that an investigation was being carried out into an unrelated offence, who became emotional, and then declared she was sexually abused as a child, according to the Avon and Somerset Police report.

The victim said in an impact statement: "I have been reluctant to provide a victim impact statement, simply because I refuse to allow Marshall to know how his horrific actions have impacted me.

"The police turned up at my home, and, after much deliberation, I agreed to work with them to finally, after many decades, bring Marshall to justice.

"I never thought I would say this, but I want to thank the detective for coming to my home and turning my world upside down. After decades of feeling too scared to speak out against Marshall, for fear of not being believed, it was he who handed Marshall to me on a silver plate to finally get justice."

On one occasion, Marshall was caught sexually assaulting his victim, and on another occasion, he assaulted them in the changing rooms of a swimming pool in Somerset.

DC Damon Carney, from the specialist child protection team, said: "Despite this being a non-recent case, the commitment of the victim and witnesses to support an investigation and seek justice has been the driving force which ultimately provided the overwhelming evidence that Marshall is guilty of these offences.

"The sentence is reflective of the harm he has caused and the risk he poses, and we hope this provides some assurance to victims of sexual assault that no matter how long ago the offending happened, you will be believed, and an investigation will be carried out."