9 children with his two daughters

The then 56 year old Sheffield man, whose name cannot be given, was given a life sentence after admitting to 25 counts of rape in 2008. At the time, his minimum jail sentence was 19-and-a-half years. His rape victims were his own two daughters, whom he impregnated 18 times over – they have 9 children together and 2 who died on the date of birth, while the rest resulted in either miscarriage or abortion.

The abuse started when the women were pre-pubescent girls. The timeline shows that there were noticeable "unaccidental" injuries on the girls in the late 1970s. From 1981 to his arrest in 2008, his two daughters were raped on a regular basis – failure to comply resulted in extreme physical abuse. Sheffield’s son recalls:

"I’ve seen him beat my elder sister. He beat her to a living pulp one day. It was horrific. Just literally got her by the hair and started punching her and kicking her. She ran off to one room and he started chasing her for more punishment ."

Sheffield’s son, who ran away from home at the age of 15, says that his father picked on his sisters continually, "calling them names and making them cry." Having left his parental home in 1997, that would mean that his sisters endured another 11 years of abuse before his father’s arrest in 2008. Upon his leave, Sheffield’s son went to the police to allege incest – his case was left uninvestigated.

Alison Holt, social affairs correspondent, says:

"This family was not hidden from view, as today’s report makes abundantly clear. Instead professional after professional had suspicions about the hell these children endured, yet the most common action was to have a quiet word."

The Sheffield man’s minimum jail term was reduced from 19-and-a-half-years to 14-and-a-half years because the judge said the original sentence had been in line with those imposed for "serious murders."

The press conference was told that nobody had been disciplined, fired or had resigned over the failure to protect these girls. According to the conference, the family had contact with 28 different agencies and 100 members of staff over 35 years, including police, doctors, nurses and social workers. And nobody did anything to stop this.