A WOMAN told last night how her father forced her to have sex with him after taking her on a birthday shopping trip.

Lynn Henry waived her right to anonymity to tell The Northern Echo about her ordeal, saying: "I want people to know what he is really like."

Lawrence William Henry, 60, pleaded guilty to two counts of incest without consent and a further charge of indecent assault, all crimes against his daughter, Lynn Henry. He was jailed for a total of three years.

In sentencing at Newcastle Crown Court, Judge Esmond Faulks said: "This was not a loving coupling, but a brief opportunity by you to slake your lust on one of your own daughters. What you did was disgraceful and disgusting."

Henry first indecently assaulted his daughter when she was only 15. Then, shortly after her 16th birthday, he took her shopping to Newcastle to spend her birthday money.

The court heard how, on the way back, Henry stopped the car, got in the back and made his daughter have sex with him.

The last attack happened five years later, when Miss Henry was 21, at the family home in Leadgate, near Consett, when her father again made her have sex with him in the living room.

Miss Henry, 33, of Woody Close, Delves Lane, near Consett, County Durham, remained silent about the attacks for more than 15 years and only went to police after her mother, Mary, died from cancer in January last year.

Last night, she waived her right to anonymity so that The Northern Echo could identify her father.

"I want people to know what he is really like," she said. "This went on for years and I felt I couldn't speak out.

"Nowadays, girls are out drinking and all sorts at 16. When he first forced himself on me at 16, I was still playing with Sindy dolls."

She told how Henry ruled his household with his fists and would beat both his wife and his five children. "He would beat us with his belt and he had a whip," she said.

"From the outside, we looked like the perfect family - no one ever saw the bruises on my mam."

The abuse left deep emotional scars - she attempted suicide twice, slashing her wrists and then taking an overdose of painkillers. It was only her love for her son from a previous relationship, who is now aged ten, that kept her going.

"I have had four failed relationships and I feel I still can't trust anyone," she said. "But I am a lot stronger now than I was then. To watch him jailed was brilliant. I just want to put it all behind me now and get on with my life."