A Dublin man (31) has been jailed for five years for sexually abusing his half-sister over a four year period. She was just 8-years-old when he first raped her in 2000.

The accused, who cannot be named to protect his half-sister's identity, came to live with her family when he was 16.

The court heard he had been living in foster care from a very young age.

The abuse began a few months later when he started sleeping in bed with the young girl and she was just 8 at the time.

Over the next four years, she said she was raped on a weekly basis including five times at a hotel in the UK where he brought her to watch football games.

The victim - now aged 21 - said the abuse made her feel worthless and she even tried to end her life because she did not want to deal with it anymore.

Today, Mr. Justice Barry White sentenced him to seven and a half years in jail with the final two and half years suspended.