An 82-year-old man sexually abused a girl when she was just four and continued for more than two years.

Ronald McLellan, a former RAF aircraft technician who served in the forces for more than 20 years, claimed he was "not doing it for his own gratification" but instead wanted to "give her pleasure".

A sheriff told McLellan he had "manipulated" the girl and "made her complicit in her own abuse" by extracting a promise to keep it secret.

When the girl finally told of the abuse police confronted McLellan who admitted the abuse.

On Wednesday at Dundee Sheriff Court, McLellan, of the city's Caldrum Terrace, pleaded guilty on indictment to a charge of sexually assaulting the girl between January 1 2014 and February 21 2016 at his home.

Sheriff Alastair Brown jailed McLellan for two years and placed him on the sex offenders register for ten years.

Speaking of the effect his abuse had on the child, the sheriff said: "I note the distress she now feels which is a foreseeable consequence of what you did and said to her.

"I don't know whether the effects on her are likely to be long lasting but it must be a distinct possibility.

"The child was particularly young. You extracted from her a promise not to tell anyone and said you would be upset if she did.

"That was manipulative. That made her complicit in her own abuse. You misled her about the nature of the act. You misled her into thinking it was acceptable and for her benefit."

Defence solicitor Ross Bennett said: "He is concerned that if he goes in to prison he will never come out.

"He will never see this girl again. He has generally been a good citizen and has done well for his family."