THERE’S been a fair few harrowing court cases published in the Chronicle since I joined the newspaper’s ranks in 2012.

I’ve covered a large chunk of the more recent ones but there’s one that always stands out – and that’s simply because of the sickening crimes a father committed against his own daughter.

Yes, you did read that right: his own daughter.

Despicable Elliott Appleyard was found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting Carol Higgins, from Penistone, following a two-week trial at Leeds Crown Court in January 2019 at the age of 71.

He had denied five counts of rape and ten counts of indecent assault which happened between April 1982 and April 1985 – when Carol was aged between 12 and 15 – but was rightly found guilty by a jury and jailed for 20 years.

She escaped his cruel clutches aged 15 but West Yorkshire Police outrageously opted against pressing charges against Appleyard and instead effectively blamed Carol.

A resilient woman, she went back to the police again in 2005, 2012 and 2014 and, when she returned in 2015, officers decided to investigate when she wrote to Dee Collins, who was then the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police, urging her to reopen the case following decades of mental struggles as a result of the abuse she endured.

Carol, who bravely waived her right to anonymity afforded to all victims of sexual abuse upon Appleyard’s conviction, has endured decades upon decades of torment and her father being locked up only offered a thin veil of security to her.

Even that could be ripped away from her now, given the frankly absurd changes to the Sentencing Act which are being hurried in from as soon as September due to the government inheriting ‘bursting-at-the-seams’ prisons.

It will mean that, depending on the type of sentence being served, some offenders will complete only 33 per cent of their sentence in prison, rather than 40 per cent or 50 per cent.

Others will serve 50 per cent, down from 67 per cent, in favour of being monitored via a tag.

Charities have since said that a growing number of victims have been thrown into panic, with some installing CCTV for their own protection, after receiving letters from the Probation Service – which Carol showed to the Chronicle – informing them that offenders will start being released.

Carol’s rightly worried, as are other victims and indeed the former Safeguarding Minister, Jess Phillips, who said she repeatedly raised concerns about the proposals with the government before her resignation.

Having spoken to her recently, she has been told that victims would be kept properly informed via a stream of letters and they’ve been reassured that measures would be put in place to keep them safe, but no-one seems to know what that means.

How can a victim possibly feel safe going about their day-to-day business when there’s the very real prospect of bumping into their abuser in a supermarket?

Ministers have since said every eligible prisoner will be rigorously assessed before the prison gates are flung open, but it’s still short shrift to victims who have endured the agony and life-changing impact of what their attackers have done.

Having followed her journey since Appleyard’s trial – something which I spent many hours covering at court – Carol’s bravery is truly remarkable to witness and while she’ll inevitably be scarred for life due to what she’s been through throughout her teenage and adult life, this really is a kick in the teeth to victims who’ve fought so hard for justice.

Yes, prisons are overcrowded and yes, perhaps reformed convicts who’ve committed less serious crimes could be effectively monitored in the outside world, but allowing the true dregs of society – violent, sadistic rapists – to roam free is gobsmackingly appalling.

Appleyard and his counterparts simply should not be given the opportunity to return to their daily lives; the key should be instead thrown away.

Let’s face the court-proven facts in Carol’s case: a dad committed heinous crimes against his daughter and instead of doting on her as a normal-minded father would, he instead raped her on multiple occasions and ruined her life.

Appleyard is a man who is simply not wired up right and I’d hope others would whole-heartedly agree with that so the whole notion of what’s to come is alarming.

It’s insulting and it’s an affront to people like Carol who really do deserve better.