A SOUTHWICK man who subjected his stepdaughter to eight years of sexual abuse has had his prison sentence cut.
Michael Willard, 65, of Hadrian Avenue, Southwick, was sentenced to six years in prison at Chichester Crown Court in February.
On Monday, however, judges sitting at the Appeal Court reduced his sentence to four-and-a-half years.
Giving the court's judgement, Lord Justice Aiken said as the offences had taken place before changes in the law in 1997, which had considerably stiffened the penalties for sexual offences against children, a maximum sentence of five years had to apply.
For the full story and an interview with Willard's victim see this week's Shoreham Herald, out now.
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