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A County Down couple convicted of a range of child sexual offences have been jailed for a total of 24 years.

Gary Talbot, 60, from Newcastle, was sentenced to 15 years for crimes including two rapes, gross indecency and indecent assault.

His wife Heather, 59, was given a nine-year sentence including aiding and abetting her husband to rape a child.

She was told told she must serve six years in prison, while Gary Talbot will serve half of his term in jail.

He will serve the other seven-and-a-half years on supervised licence.

Gary Talbot, a former school bus driver and postman, abused the victim when she was a toddler and again when she was aged 13 or 14.

Among the other offences he was convicted of was taking and distributing indecent images of the child.

His wife, a former school cleaner, admitted taking pictures of her husband raping the child as well as indecently assaulting the child and committing acts of gross indecency.

Judge Piers Grant said it was a "depraved and premeditated campaign of abuse and rape against a defenceless toddler".

He said their actions "will provoke a sense of disgust and even disbelief that anyone could act in this way, particularly towards a child of such tender years".

Both have been on remand since January 2018 when the nature of their offences came to light.

In their Newcastle home, police seized multiple computer devices.

A hard drive containing abuse images was found locked away. The key was found inside a copy of the book Lolita.

During police interview, Gary Talbot identified his victim, who was aged between 18 months and three years old at the time of the rapes.

She had no recollection of this abuse taking place.

In his sentencing remarks, Judge Grant said that the Talbots' crimes were "depraved, disgraceful" and that they would "provoke disgust and disbelief that anyone could act in such a way to such a young child".

The child is now a young adult.

The judge said: "They have caused significant harm to the victim and she continues to suffer.

"These offences were planned, carefully considered and premeditated."

'They took my innocence'

Outside Laganside court this afternoon, Det Ch Insp Claire McGuigan read a statement on behalf of the victim.

"I was only a child when they took my innocence away.

"The abuse left me traumatised and upset as they betrayed my trust in the most despicable way.

"The trauma caused me to lose all my childhood memories and develop PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).

"The past year has been very difficult for me, my family and friends.

"I would like to thank them for being there for me, not only for every court hearing but for supporting me day to day as I have struggled to come to terms with my abuse."

She added: "Pursuing justice has been a long process however seeing my abusers jailed has given me renewed strength and I am now looking forward to the future.

"I'm hoping to become a counsellor, as counselling has been essential in my recovery and thank you to my counsellor as you have inspired me to help others overcome traumatic experiences.

"I would really like to thank and commend all survivors of sexual abuse for your amazing strength as it has helped me to fight to get my justice.

"Together we will send a message across the world that there is no shame in being a survivor of sexual abuse - the shame is on the abuser."

Senior Public Prosecutor and Higher Court Advocate Joseph Murphy said it was "a particularly grave and distressing case".

He added: "The positive outcome in this case was achieved through collaborative working with the PSNI.

"I want to commend the bravery shown by the victim, who is now an adult, and her family throughout the criminal justice process."