AN "EVIL" couple who used threats of black magic to sexually abuse a St Athan schoolgirl have been jailed for 17 years.

Carolee Hickman, 64 told the teenage girl that she was a part of a powerful witches coven who could kill her mother with a curse in order to convince her to take part in sex sessions with her husband.

Husband Albert Hickman, 65, was also jailed for 17 years for the abuse which took place while he was an RAF engineer at St Athan in the early1970s.

Mr Hickman also raped a young girl in 1982 after leaving the RAF and joining the Fire Service and had been jailed for 10 years for the crime.

Mrs Hickman was jailed for five years in 1982 after admitting holding down a child while she was raped as part of "devil worship" which required a virgin girl.

Cardiff Crown Court heard how occultist Mrs Hickman had a special "bejewelled knife" which she used to cut her victims thumb before sucking her blood.

Judge Daniel Williams jailed the pair for a total of 34 years and told them: "You were a couple united by a deep seated and overwhelming abuse of children.

"You groomed her and gained her trust, you told her you had supernatural powers and that she was the 'chosen one' and you put the fear of God into her.

"It was a specific targeting of a vulnerable victim and threats were made which petrified her."

The court heard the couple invited the teenage girl into their house where they discussed black magic and did tarot card readings with her.

They then assaulted her every week for almost a year, and together planned to rape the young victim.

Mrs Hickman pinned her arms above her head and took "delight in the terrible, terrible rape" carried out by her husband.

The victim repressed the memories of her ordeal for 40 years and suffered "severe psychological harm".

She said the horror of what happened to her while at school had been buried for 40 years - before her memories resurfaced.

The victim now, 53, said in an impact statement: "Forty two-years-ago a little girl met two evil people who took advantage of her.

"My life has been destroyed at their hands."

The woman, who cannot be identified, said she went to the Hickmans home aged 11 while ditching school with friends.

The couple allegedly gave the girl and her friends "pagan crosses" to wear before plying them with cigarettes and alcohol.

She told the trial: "Carolee said she was a witch and would come and get me and would make my mother ill - she even said she could kill my mother if she wanted to.

“She had a knife with a jewelled handle kept in a wooden box with carvings on the top. She cut my hand and sucked the blood out of it.

“There were tarot cards she used to tell our fortunes and she even had a black cape."

The girl tried to report the Hickmans to police following the sex attack at their home in St Athan near Cardiff.

Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard how officers dismissed her claims taking the view that a married woman would not have been capable of doing what Mrs Hickman had.

Hickman, who used to work as an engineer for the RAF, was eventually convicted of rape following trial.

His wife was found guilty of indecent assault and aiding and abetting rape.