A man who raped a 15-year-old schoolgirl more than 30 years ago was imprisoned for eight years yesterday.

Morris O’Brien, 54, from Pembroke, was convicted of the attack on the teenager after trial in February.

Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves said the case was “particularly painful”.

He added: “There really are no winners. It is indeed tragic.”

Mr Justice Greaves said that he accepted the victim’s impact statement that the rape had caused her “tremendous harm”.

He added: “It was traumatic and obvious the pain she endured from the day of that act and throughout the years.”

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said in her statement read earlier this week that she had suffered “terrible emotional scars”.

She added: “Today I still have nightmares over what happened to me more than 30 years ago.”

The woman said that she suffered problems with relationships and had trouble sleeping.

She added: “Some days I suffer from extreme depression as a result.”

The woman said that since the case went to court she had started counselling sessions to help deal with the trauma caused by the rape.

She added: “Day to day, I try my hardest to put this behind me, but it is no easy task. I cry every day and say ‘why me?’.”

O’Brien was convicted of the offence by a Supreme Court jury’s unanimous verdict.

O’Brien, who was 23 at the time, raped the teenager, said to be a family friend, in 1988.

The woman, now 45, told the trial that he had raped her on the living room floor as her sister slept in a bedroom.

She said that she blacked out during the attack and that O’Brien was gone when she regained consciousness.

The woman said that O’Brien had “stalked” her after the rape.

O’Brien denied that he had raped the girl and insisted that he had “consensual” sex with the girl three times while she was underage.

He said this week that he was “remorseful” for what happened.

O’Brien added: “Looking back, it’s something that I regret.”

The Crown asked for a prison sentence of between ten and 12 years.

Archibald Warner, O’Brien’s lawyer, said that the appropriate sentence should be “no more than seven years’ imprisonment”.

O’Brien was told that time already served would be taken into consideration.

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