A paedophile from Barking has been jailed for sexual offences against three girls spanning almost 10 years.

Rupert Deeble, 51, of Margaret Bondfield Avenue, was convicted of two counts of raping a child under the age of 13, three counts of assault by penetration, four counts of sexual activity with a child and of causing a child to watch a sexual act.

He was arrested last March and found guilty on May 4 this year.

Yesterday at Snaresbrook Crown Court he was jailed for 23 years.

The judge said Deeble should be classified as a dangerous offender.

Detective Constable Jasmine Abbey said: “I would like to thank the victims and their families for their strength and courage in speaking to police and the court about these horrendous crimes.

“Deeble has completely shattered the lives of these young people and their families and I hope that with this verdict and sentence they now finally feel some sort of closure and are able to start trying to rebuild their lives.”

Detective Constable Nancy Smith, who also worked on the case, said: “We strongly believe that there are other victims that have not yet been able to come forward and we urge anyone who has been a victim or knows anything about any other crimes that Deeble may have committed to contact police.”