A man has been sentenced to more than a decade in prison for the historic sexual assault of a young girl.

Amir Menor abused a position of trust to gain time alone with the girl in her own home in Blackburn and abused her over a period of about eight months about 11 years ago.

The girl suffered severe psychological harm as a result of the abuse and Preston Crown Court heard how she would have flashbacks of the abuse she suffered at the hands of Menor.

Mitigating, Richard English said he should “bare great responsibility for what happened” but should not bare all of it, as there had been other things going on in the girl’s life too.

The court heard Menor would tell the girl she had a “soft belly” before moving his hand under her clothing and abusing her.

This would happen in both the living room and the bedroom of the house she was living in, but most often in the living room.

In a victim personal statement, she said this would happen on multiple occasions every week, and that she did not really understand what was happening at the time.

Judge Darren Preston said: “Inevitably, she has been deeply affected by your abuse of her.

“It’s clear from her victim personal statement and it was clear from her evidence there were other issues in her life, but the principal cause of her psychological damage is what you did to her.

“The trauma you have caused that girl is constant, severely damaging, and will likely impact her forever.

“Her descriptions of her mental health in the run up to and during the trial show the devastating harm you have caused her.

“I have no hesitation in concluding you abused a position of trust.

“You are plainly at risk of further offending, but I cannot safely conclude the risk is significant, together with your lack of offending before or since.

“It is perfectly plain that for these serious offences, an immediate custodial sentence of some length is an inevitability.”

Menor, of no fixed abode, was convicted on three counts of assaulting a girl by penetration following a trial.

He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and will be subject to notification requirements for life.