A man fathered three children with his own daughter - continuing the relationship even after he was cautioned by police.

The 57-year-old dad from Huddersfield was jailed for a total of 46 months after a judge at Leeds Crown Court heard of the pair’s 16-year illicit relationship.

Patrick Palmer prosecuting told the court the girl believed another man to be her father until she was a teenager having not seen her real dad since she was a toddler.

She then started to get to know her father and eventually moved in with him after a problem at home with her stepfather.

She later told police she was 14 when her father first kissed her and touched her sexually and “one thing led to another.”

They then began to have sex regularly and their first child was born in 2002. Her father was arrested in 2005 and cautioned by police for incest after he admitted being the father of that boy, no sexual complaint was made at that time by his daughter.

Mr Palmer told the court the father was however put on the sexual offences register for two years.

Jailing the father, who admitted 10 charges of incest, one of indecent assault and one of gross indecency, Judge Christopher Batty said the police were unaware at that time that the defendant’s daughter was actually pregnant again with his second child who was born later that year.

“At some point in the ensuing months you signed an agreement with Social Services you would not see each other and yet continued to do so.”

That was a further aggravating feature that he had ignored that agreement. Although the frequency of their sexual contact reduced their third child was born in 2010.

“By this time she describes you as a controlling and jealous man.

“Life was clearly unpleasant for her so much so that in 2012 she went to the police.”

Stephen Welford representing the father said his client accepted his daughter was vulnerable when she had sought him out, but because of their previous lack of contact they did not have the usual parental bonding of a father/daughter which perhaps contributed to what happened.

He said the caution might have sent the wrong message to him. “He appreciates now he also should not have allowed what happened between them to continue."

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