Woman reveals ‘living nightmare’ of being raped by her brother

A rape victim has described the “living nightmare” of being attacked by her brother, who was recently jailed.

Shaun Lampitt, 51, from Newport, was sentenced for the rape of the young girl in the 1980s and early 1990s, who has decided to speak out about the impact of his actions.

The victim, who was known as Catherine Dixon at the time, bravely waived her right to anonymity to tell her story.

‘As a child I don’t really have any good memories of Shaun because of what he did, she said.

“I liked to draw and colour as a child; it gave me a sense of worth. To colour a black and white picture and make it beautiful, because my life was black and white, and nothing was beautiful in it. Not after what Shaun did.

“It was a living nightmare which I could not escape.” She added.

“I was just a little girl who had no one, scared and frightened. I can’t describe the sadness my heart holds for the little girl who stood in the window smelling her mother’s dress, praying to God to bring her mum home before the door flew open and the monster appeared who changed my life forever.

“Shaun was my brother, he was supposed to protect me and look out for me, but he didn’t. He hurt me, he hit me and raped me. Just a little girl who was trying to find some comfort in her drawings. He took that away from me. He took my childhood away from me.

Wrong

While Catherine knew what her brother was doing was wrong, it wasn’t until she was older that she fully understood what was happening to her.

“When I hit my teens, everything was a lot worse as I started to understand and realised what he had done. I couldn’t cope.

“I told teachers in my high school, but nothing was done. I needed help but no one came to aid me.

“Throughout my life I have struggled with what Shaun did to me and as result I tried taking my own life on a number of occasions and even self-harmed. I have overcome so many of these issues and I hope with justice I will be able to close this chapter and work on myself because I think I deserve it after a lifetime of pain.”

Shaun Lampitt was sentenced to four years in prison on Friday 20 June at Merthyr Crown Court, and will remain on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

Listened 

In her victim impact statement, Catherine spoke about the importance of being listened to and believed for the first time: “Thank you all so much from the bottom of my heart for believing me and listening because nobody ever did.”

Detective Constable Sean Gough, the officer in the case, said: “The victim in this case has shown remarkable bravery and resilience throughout the investigation, court proceedings and waiving her right to anonymity.

Sexual abuse can be reported to the police via 101, by direct message on social media, or to Crimestoppers anonymously.