A PEMBROKE Dock man who raped two young girls and sexually assaulted three others has been jailed for 21 years today.

Stephen Bladen, aged 55, of Sycamore Street, was told by a judge at Swansea crown court he would serve a minimum of 14 years behind bars.

Bladen was classed by Judge Keith Thomas as “dangerous” as defined by law and will be liable to being recalled to jail for seven years following his release even if he served the full 21 years.

Bladen had been convicted after a trial of 33 sex offences. They included the rape of a girl when she was about seven years old and the rape of another before she was 11.

The indecent assault charges included one of trying to rape a girl when she was only five years of age.

Bladen was also found guilty of possessing indecent images of children.

Judge Thomas said Bladen had been a persistent offender over a 30 year period despite being warned about his behaviour.

He had used the carrot and stick approach, added the judge, sometimes promising the young girls sweets. At other times he threatened to harm a favourite rabbit if a youngster did not co-operate.

Robin Rouch, prosecuting, read statements made by Bladen’s victims in which they described ruined lives and difficulties in trusting men and having relationships with them.

One wrote, “I would have become a very different person if I had not been abused.”

Another told how she had turned to Class A drugs by the age of 13.

Bladen’s barrister, Carina Hughes, said he still did not accept his guilt, despite the jury’s verdicts.

“There is no acceptance of responsibility,” she added. Because of that “it is not envisaged at the moment that any work can be done with him in the prison setting.”