A WOMAN who was sexually abused by her uncle from the age of five last night bravely gave up her right to anonymity to warn of the danger he posed.

Yvonne Priestley, 30, spoke exclusively to The Northern Echo in a bid to ensure the man - described by police as "a serious risk to children" - never poses such a threat again.

The mother-of-one was instrumental in bringing Harry Priestley to justice after coming forward last year to tell detectives her harrowing story.

Yesterday, the former school caretaker - who continues to protest his innocence - was jailed for three-and-a-half years at Newcastle Crown Court for a string of child abuse offences.

Priestley, of Oakley Green, West Auckland, County Durham, was placed on the sex offenders register for life and banned from working with children for life.

The 57-year-old father of three, who has no previous convictions, was found guilty on seven of eight charges of child abuse by a jury at Durham Crown Court earlier this month. The jury took four hours to return its guilty verdicts on four charges of indecent assaults and three of gross indecency.

None of the offences was said to have been committed against pupils at the school where Priestley worked. The charges involving Miss Priestley spanned nine years during the 1980s, while those against a second victim related to two months in 1991.

Miss Priestley, who lives in Darlington, said of the jail term: "That is fantastic. I was expecting about two years so anything over that is marvellous. The most important thing is that he can never work with children again."

Miss Priestley told how she recalled her uncle as being the only one in her life who showered her with the love and attention that she craved from her parents.

But his affections turned sour when he began to abuse Miss Priestley on a weekly basis at her grandmother's home in West Auckland.

"He would touch me first and then he would make me touch him. I couldn't tell anybody because I felt I had let him do it to me," she said.

While it has destroyed her trust in men, she said: "I don't feel I'm fighting against the world any more and I have more faith in people. I feel that now I have gone though this I can do anything."

Anne Richardson, defending, told the court: "Mr Priestley continues to deny the allegations made by these two ladies. He was of previous good character and has lost everything because of the jury's verdict."

Miss Priestley said: "I don't know why he can't admit what he has done. I pity him really. He may feel he has lost everything, but I really did lose everything years ago - my self-belief and ability to trust."

The detective in charge of the case, Sergeant Warren Hawes, of Bishop Auckland Police, said: "It was one of those cases that could have gone either way because of how long ago it happened.