Daddy’s Prisoner

Alice Lawrence suffered a very abusive childhood. First raped by her father when she was eleven years old, he continued abuse her for the next sixteen years. He insisted on getting her pregnant so that he could claim additional benefits, but the pregnancies resulted in several miscarriages, a stillbirth, and one child who only survived for eight months. After many years Alice ran away, married and had two children, but she could not forget what had been done to her and eventually reported her abuse to the police. In September 2007 her father pleaded guilty to incest at a private hearing once a DNA test proved that he was the father of one of the children who had died years before. Unfortunately Alice’s marriage did not survive the pressure of these proceedings, and she split from her husband before the trial. Although her identity had been protected Alice found that she had to speak out when she heard about the Austrian case of Josef Fritzl. By now in a happily settled relationship and a new baby, she realised that she was still traumatised by her experiences and could not truly move on with her life until the truth about her father was known. By telling her story Alice has reclaimed her life for herself and for her children. Written with Megan Lloyd Davies.