Oliver Haskett who sexually abused his daughter from a young age has avoided being sent to prison

after his victim pleaded for him not to receive a jail term. A sicko dad who sexually abused and beat his daughter from the age of five has walked free from court. Earlier this month, Limerick businessman and former guesthouse owner Oliver Haskett was remanded in custody and warned he would be going to jail after harrowing evidence of the abuse suffered by his daughter Sheila Ryan was outlined at Limerick Circuit Court. Yesterday, he received a four-year suspended jail term. Ms Ryan (36) was praised for her "Christian charity and forgiveness" after she pleaded that the man responsible for her dysfunctional childhood not be sent to jail. The victim, who waived her right to anonymity, told gardai the abuse started when she was five years old and also recalled how she was beaten and chastised by her father for mispronouncing words.

The mother-of-two recalled how some of the abuse took place in the downstairs bedroom of a bed-and-breakfast that her parents operated in Adare, Co Limerick. Mr Haskett, with an address at Westbury, Co Clare, pleaded guilty to 12 counts of indecent assault on his daughter Sheila Ryan, between January 1988 and December 31, 1990, and a further 20 counts of sexual assault between September 1991 and December 1995. The offences occurred at the former family homes in Foynes, Kilcornan, and Adare in Co Limerick. Before sentence was imposed yesterday, Judge Carroll Moran was told that Ms Ryan did not want her father to get a custodial sentence. Counsel for the State, Michael Collins, said the 36-year-old was shocked when she saw her father going into custody following the last court appearance, and said she had written a letter indicating she did not want her father going to jail. Judge Carroll Moran said Mr Haskett, a father of four, was guilty of a breach of trust and the fact he had abused his own child was a further breach of the trust she was entitled to. In her victim-impact statement, Ms Ryan revealed how she had come close to suicide and struggled with depression, eating disorders and alcohol abuse as a result of her dysfunctional childhood. The court heard how the young girl was in "extreme fear" of her father, who would inflict severe punishment if she was bold. The court heard Haskett had since remarried after divorcing the victims mother. The judge said: He has spent 18 months in therapy at the Granada Institute, and the report provided is positive in some respects. She said her father was a control freak who would correct her and abuse her for little mistakes. After being chastised and beaten she was sexually abused by her father in her parents bed. Mr Haskett also took photographs of his daughter when she was naked. Judge Carroll Moran said that it was a very difficult case and particularly serious as it involved the abuse by a father of his daughter.

He ordered Haskett be placed on Register for Sex Offenders, for a period of five years.