Man jailed for incest

Press, 6 February 1986, Page 8

Man jailed for incest

NZPA-AAP London A Hertfordshire court has heard the story of a man who fathered six children by his own daughter. He was said to have lived as man and wife with his daughter, now aged 30, for 13 years, reports “The Sun” newspaper. He has been sentenced to five years jail after admitting six charges of incest His daughter gave birth to four daughters and two sons. The eldest is 12 and the youngest aged nearly two weeks. The court was told that one of the daughters had died from the rare hereditary liver disease, Reyes Syndrome, and that another child was seriously ill with the same complaint. Counsel told the court that the unnamed man had been warned by three doctors of the genetic dangers of fathering his daughter’s children. But he thought he knew better because of his experience with breeding rabbits. The new-born child had six fingers on one hand. The matter was investigated after doctors at a London children’s hospital realised that because the liver disease suffered by two of the children was so rare, the woman must have been having sex with a close relative. The man had left his first wife when the daughter was four. After his second marriage failed the daughter went to live with him. He helped the girl, who was described as “simple,” to kick a drug habit and then fell in love with her in what he said was “the wrong way.”