"I cannot forgive him for what he has done to me" — an Isle of Wight councillor has been jailed for more than two years following historic child rape convictions.

Cllr Daryll Pitcher, of Norman Way, Wootton, was found guilty of two counts of rape of a child under 13 by a jury after a six-day trial in February.

The jury reached a majority verdict of 11 to one, after five hours of deliberation.

Appearing today (Wednesday) at the Isle of Wight Crown Court, Recorder Richard Onslow has sentenced Pitcher to six months on one count and 27 months on the other to run concurrently, due to his age at the time of the crimes.

Mr Onslow said Pitcher will serve half of his sentence — over a year — in custody and the other half on licence.

The offences happened between June 1990 and March 1992 when Pitcher now 46, was a teenager, although he has always denied they took place.

In a victim impact statement read out in court today, his victim said she trusted Pitcher but he ruined her life from a young age, "taking her childhood and virginity away from her."

She said she has lived in fear of what he did to her and she felt shameful of what happened, thinking she could have stopped the sexual assaults.

Now, she said she wants him to realise the consequence of his actions and "he has had the opportunity to be accountable for his actions but he still would not tell the truth."

Earlier in the trial, Pitcher had been found not guilty of indecent assault of a girl under 14 years as the prosecution presented no evidence.

In Pitcher's defence, 17 reference letters had been submitted to the court to prove his good character.

Pitcher had already been placed on the Sex Offenders' Register but will now stay on it for the next ten years.

A restraining order was also approved today by Mr Onslow forbidding Pitcher to contact his victim or go to the road she lives, indefinitely.

Pitcher had previously announced plans to appeal his conviction.