ONE WOMAN’S
A WOMAN abused by her vile stepfather for a decade has told of her agonising legal battle that led to him being jailed for 30 years.
Naomi Clayton suffered horrific physical violence and then sexual abuse at the hands of monster Graham Howard.
Years later she bravely came forward to report Howard to the police – but the Crown Prosecution Service dropped the case after 12 months.
Naomi, 29, demanded a review and – nearly four years later – finally saw Howard, 48, convicted of 18 sex crimes, including 11 child rapes.
Waiving anonymity to speak out for the first time, Naomi said her victory was one for all women who may otherwise have fallen into Howard’s clutches.
She says: “Officers who worked on my case said it was one of the worst they’d ever come across, but if I hadn’t pushed for him to be prosecuted, Graham would still be walking the streets today.
“To know a jury of 12 complete strangers believed us and saw through his lies was so overwhelming. I just wish the CPS had done the same from the outset.”
Naomi was four when Howard got together with her mum, Regina.
They married and the family, including Naomi’s two younger sisters, moved from Goole, East Yorks, to York.
ANGER
Naomi recalls: “He seemed nice enough at first, the father figure in the house and we all called him Dad.
“It wasn’t long after we moved that the physical abuse began. He would explode in anger at the littlest things – not doing as we were told, or talking back.
“If Mum wasn’t there, he’d hit me around the head with a baseball bat and warn that if I ever said anything I’d be taken away from home and I’d never see my sisters again. Mum would ask about my bruises but Graham would say I’d fallen over or bumped into a door.”
Beatings continued for three years before the campaign of terror escalated to sexual abuse.
Naomi and her sisters – who have consented to her going public – were raped multiple times over the next seven years.
Howard, who worked at the Rowntree factory in York, bought the girls’ silence with sweets, chocolate and magazines – saying they would be split up if they breathed a word of their agony.
Naomi adds: “He always did it when Mum wasn’t around. She might have been out shopping or even just down the bottom of the garden. If Graham sensed an opportune moment, he took it.
“I remember every detail, right down to smells and the texture of the material I could feel when he was abusing me.
“Life was awful. My sisters and I didn’t talk about what was happening to us. We all had an inkling the others were suffering too, but we never spoke of it.
“We all hated being left alone with Graham and would beg Mum to take us with her if she went out. My only safe haven was school. I never missed a day and hated going home.
“Some teachers did pick up on the bruises when I did PE but I’d been coached from an early age to give an innocent explanation. No one knew how
THIS case highlights a flawed system which has seen a huge fall in prosecutions and shameful delays in cases reaching court.
Proper communication with survivors of rape is essential in maintaining confidence in the criminal justice.
Naomi’s battle highlights the importance of the Victims’ Right to Review and the value it plays.
However, a recent CPS report revealed no overall improvement in victim communication since 2018. The Government has been too slow in tackling the backlog of cases and opening up more Nightingale courts.
I have heard from rape victims waiting two years for their case to be heard. These statistics reveal how, at every stage of their journey, victims are being let down by this government.
Victims cannot afford to wait five more years for action.
It felt like CPS thought we were lying... even the police were disheartened NAOMI CLAYTON ON LONG AND PAINFUL FIGHT TO GET JUSTICE
we were suffering. It went on for years.”
Howard also directed his violence at Regina and the pair would split for brief periods. “There was always a huge sense of relief,” Naomi recalls.
“Even though we knew it would be just a few days respite before he wheedled his way back in – which he always did.”
Naomi says the abuse stopped suddenly when she was around 15. A year later, in 2008, her youngest sister made a complaint against Howard after