Liam Adams is found guilty of child sex abuse

Liam Adams abused his daughter for six years. Picture: Paul Faith/PA

Liam Dominic Adams, 58, was convicted of raping and sexually assaulting his daughter, Aine, over a six-year period between 1977 and 1983 when she was aged between four and nine.

Bespectacled Adams, who was wearing a grey suit, cream shirt and blue tie, showed no emotion as the guilty verdicts were returned and Judge Corinne Philpott said: “Take him down.”

The jury of nine men and three women had heard more than two weeks of evidence at Belfast Crown Court.

They began deliberating at 11:05am yesterday and took almost four hours to reach guilty verdicts, with a majority of 11 to one.

Aine Adams, who was surrounded by family members, wept and clutched her younger sister Sinead for support.

In a statement read out by a police officer outside the court, Ms Adams – who waived her right to anonymity throughout the trial – said she could finally begin to move on after a long and hard road to achieve justice.

“I do not see this verdict as a victory or a celebration as it has taken its toll and has caused hurt, heartache and anguish for all those involved.

“I can now begin my life at 40 and lay to rest the memory of the five-year-old girl who was abused,” she said.

During the trial, Ms Adams gave graphic details of the abuse, which started when she was aged four. The first time she recalled being raped was while her mother was in hospital giving birth to her younger brother, Conor, in 1977.

In another incident she was raped by her father while her brother was asleep in the bed beside her.

Adams, who was a heavy drinker, also forced his daughter to perform sex acts.