Drugged & raped
and I thought I was his only victim…
Ifelt like a princess as I swished and twirled my puffy, blue dress.
‘Don’t you look a picture?’ my uncle, Mick, winked. Aged 5, I was a bridesmaid at his wedding.
He was marrying my auntie – my mum’s sister.
Ever since I could remember, Mick had always had a soft spot for me.
He’d take me to the park, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, buy me sweets…
Just a kid, I lapped up the attention.
He often babysat me while my parents worked shifts.
And when my auntie wasn’t in, he’d give me her clothes to dress up in.
‘Here, put these on,’ he grinned one day, handing me some stockings.
As I pranced around in them, Mick took pictures with his Polaroid camera.
Loving the attention, I wiggled my bum and posed.
As I got a bit older, he began showing me weird magazines.
‘Look at these,’ he’d smirk, flicking through pictures of naked women.
I thought he was just showing me normal stuff all kids read.
Then, when I was 8, Mick was driving me home from school when he suddenly pulled over.
He told me to take off my knickers, then touched me.
I was too young to understand it was wrong. And Mick acted so normal after, I didn’t question it.
A few years later, when I was about 10, he started giving me booze.
‘Don’t tell anyone,’ he winked.
I felt so grown up.
Then Mick got me to sniff little bottles of liquid. The sweet and fruity smell was overpowering.
It made me feel woozy, like the whole room was spinning.
One night when my aunt was out, I fell asleep on her bed after sniffing the fruity stuff.
Suddenly, Mick climbed on top of me and started raping me. Everything was a blur. Next thing I knew, Mick had left me to get dressed.
The following day, he acted so normal, I didn’t think it was anything to worry about.
But then, aged 11, we were taught about sex at school. It was only then that the penny dropped.
Uncles weren’t supposed to do those things to their nieces.
Bottling it up, I didn’t tell a soul about it.
When I was 14, I got my first boyfriend. And Mick didn’t seem interested in me anymore. I wasn’t bothered. By now, I understood that Mick’s little bottles of liquid were actually ‘poppers’ – amyl nitrate.
He’d been getting me to sniff the stuff so he could sexually abuse and rape me.
Disgusted, I tried to bury the memories.
In 2006, aged 20, I met a boy, Ash, 17, through some friends.
We’d not been together long when we went to a nightclub one evening.
Then, while I was dancing, I smelt it…
The sweet, fruity stuff Mick used to give me.
Poppers!
In that moment, it all came flooding back, and I fled the club in tears. Ash followed, confused, and took me home. Later, I found myself blurting everything out. ‘My uncle raped me when I was a kid,’ I sobbed. Ash urged me to go to the police, but I couldn’t. ‘I’m not ready,’ I told him. He respected my decision and was supportive. In time, Ash and I had two kids, now aged 7 and 3. My little family became my distraction. Then, in late 2015, my cousin
Mick acted so normal after, I didn’t question it
Michaela, 44, visited.
She’d moved away to Swindon years ago.
As we chatted in the kitchen over a cuppa, we got onto the subject of Mick.
But something Michaela said made me freeze.
‘Why would I want to see him again after what he did to me?’ she said.
‘What do you mean?’ I replied, heart pounding.
‘When I was a kid, he abused me,’ she cried, breaking down. I couldn’t believe it. I thought I’d been Mick’s only victim.
‘You weren’t the only one,’
I admitted, explaining what Mick had done to me.
Michaela was so shocked – she hadn’t had a clue.
We just held each other and started sobbing.
Suddenly, Ash burst into the room.
He’d overheard our whole conversation. Heard the tears.
‘You’ve got to report Mick to the police,’ he urged.
We knew he was right, so let him go to the police station.
A few hours later, officers arrived and took statements.
But they explained sex offenders rarely admit their crimes, and often it’s their word against their victim’s.
‘I won’t hold my breath then,’ I sighed.
But, days later, I got a call saying Mick had confessed to everything!
The abuse, rape, poppers, photos…the lot. I was speechless. And relieved I wouldn’t have to face him in court to give evidence.
Finally, in February this year, Michael Hudson, 55, appeared at Preston Crown Court.
He pleaded guilty to 12 charges of indecent assault, one charge of rape, two of administering drugs, and two of taking indecent photos.
The court heard he manipulated situations, showing us pornography to normalise sexual activity.
The judge sentenced him to 13 years in prison, and he was placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.
‘Justice,’ I said to Ash, relieved it was all over.
Ash has been my rock throughout everything.
Now I’m putting my life back together and focusing on my family.
A family that Mick’s no longer a part of.