TWO brothers have been jailed for a total of 18 years after two girls were sexually abused in Bradford about 40 years ago.

Ronald Twite, 61, was imprisoned for 12 years for raping a girl aged 11 or 12 at his bedsit in the Leeds Road area of the city.

Leslie Twite, 62, was locked up for six years for seven offences of indecent assault and four counts of indecency with a child, involving two girls then aged nine and five.

The judge, Recorder David Gordon, said the men might have to serve their sentences in full if the Parole Board does not rule it safe to release them sooner.

Each will also be on licence for a extra year when they are freed.

The brothers were convicted after a four-day trial at Bradford Crown Court.

Both declined to give evidence and the jury was out only about two hours before delivering its unanimous guilty verdicts on all 12 charges.

The court heard that the offences came to light after one of the abused women went to the police in 2015.

Ronald Twite, now of Morley Street, Goole, raped the girl on a single occasion.

Recorder Gordon said it had “a terrible and devastating” effect on his victim.

Leslie Twite, now of Harold Street, Grimsby, sexually abused one of his victims in a phone box.

One of the women said in her victim personal statement that she had been robbed of her childhood and found it difficult to trust anyone. She had suffered from depression since she was 18.

The second woman said she had struggled all her life to cope with the abuse. She still felt anger and she pushed people away. She suffered depression and flashbacks and had been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder.

David Godfrey, Ronald Twite’s barrister, said it was a one-off offence and there had been no hint of any impropriety since the rape, that took place in 1979 or 1980.

Twite was in poor health, suffering with diabetes and hearing loss.

John Batchelor, for Leslie Twite, said he was aged 23 to 27 when he committed the offences.

He was his wife’s registered carer and he had a history of depression and self harm.

Recorder Gordon made indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention orders on both brothers and ordered each to sign on the sex offenders’ register for an indefinite period.