Jailed for 16 years after grooming a vulnerable child and raping her several times. Child had to eat ants to survive.

A paedophile who groomed and raped a vulnerable 11-year-old girl has been jailed for 16 years.

William Bresnahan, 75, targeted the daughter of two heroin addicts who was so neglected she was forced to eat ants to survive.

The girl, who was forced to work to pay for her parents' drug habits, befriended Bresnahan after her father committed suicide.

Bresnahan, whose wife had died, gave the girl food, money, clothing, and trips, before raping her at least five times at his home.

The victim, now an adult, described Bresnahan as her "rock and saviour" despite the abuse, telling police: "It was a small price to pay to be fed and clothed."

Liverpool Crown Court heard Bresnahan specifically targeted the girl, who was "extremely vulnerable" and had to "eat ants to feed herself and find menial work just to survive."

The victim, who sold flowers at a cemetery and found shopping trolleys to get the pound from them, said she was "starving and desperate" when she met Bresnahan, who offered her jobs and money.

He gave her food and clothes, let her stay at his home and took her out to a farm and the seaside. But he instructed her to tell anyone who asked that he was her uncle, before the abuse began.

Eventually, genuine relatives told Bresnahan to stop seeing the girl, but she did not feel able to report what happened until 2017.

Bresnahan claimed his victim was a liar who held a grudge against him, but he was unanimously convicted of three counts of rape and three counts of indecent assault last month.

The victim, who suffered panic attacks, headaches, nightmares, depression, and problems forming relationships, told the court: "I'm messed in the head. This has messed up my life."

She added: "The worst thing has been everything, every day. It has destroyed me."

However, she said: "I am so glad I got justice and couldn't thank the courts enough."

Judge Rachel Smith said the victim, who sobbed throughout the hearing, suffered severe psychological harm.

She said she was unsure whether the victim's mum accepted the cash knowing Bresnahan was sexually assaulting her, "turned a blind eye to the situation" when someone who was not a heroin addict would have realised what was going on, or because she was on drugs, was not aware at all.

However, she said: "Your motivation in giving her money was to maintain access to her daughter in order to abuse her."

Judge Smith said Bresnahan was "an offender of particular concern" and jailed him for 16 years, with an extended year on licence.

He will serve at least half of the term - eight years - behind bars, before he is eligible for parole at 83.

He will only be released before the end of the 16-year sentence - at 91 - if he is no longer considered to be a risk to the public.