A man has been jailed for four years after being found guilty of indecent assault on a child.

Ian Haywood, 54, of Hidcote Close in Wellingborough, was convicted of five counts of indecent assault on a girl aged under 14 and one charge of indecency with a child at St Albans Crown Court last Thursday.

The offences occurred between 1996 and 1998 in St Albans.

Detective Constable Mark Winter, from the Sexual Offences Investigation Team (SOIT), said: “After many years of struggling to come to terms with what has happened to her, the victim, who is now aged in her 30s, was incredibly brave in reporting the offences to police.

“Haywood’s actions have had a huge impact on the victim, who did disclose what had happened to her when she was a child but, tragically, she was not believed by those who should have protected her.

“It is only after many years of counselling that she has felt that she could speak to police about her ordeal.

“Now that Haywood has been jailed, this brave lady wants to concentrate on moving forward with her life and specialist officers continue to give her support to help her do this.”

He added: “I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to anyone who has been affected by this case or has further information to get in touch with Hertfordshire Constabulary via the non-emergency number 101. We have specially trained staff who investigate these types of offences and provide support to victims.”