A 62-year-old St Philip man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for raping an eight-year-old girl, with the judge stressing that such crimes must attract severe punishment to protect vulnerable children and deter offenders.

After his remand time was discounted, Shayne Douglas Marshall, of Rock Hall, St Philip, is left having to serve 13 years and 144 days more behind the bars at Dodds Prison for having sexual intercourse with a girl who was under the age of 14, between May 1 and June 30, 2019.

Marshall, had denied the charge and was unanimously convicted of the offence by a nine-member jury last November, following a three week trial.