PAEDOPHILE brothers have been jailed for carrying out "a campaign of rape" on young girls spanning almost a decade.

One brother was jailed for 16 years and another for 12 years at Worcester Crown Court on Tuesday (February 5).

The judge described the abuse as "a campaign of rape" by the men, both now in their 70s.

The second brother was told by his own barrister he was likely to die behind bars.

The abuse by both men spanned the late 1980s and carried on for almost a decade until the late 1990s.

One girl was abused from the age of nine and the other from the age of 10.

The first brother admitted three counts of indecency with a child, four counts of indecent assault and one count of rape.

The second admitted indecency with a child, indecent assault and rape.

The abuse was carried out by the first brother against two girl victims while the second abused one of the same girls.

Giles Nelson, prosecuting, said the first brother had attempted suicide by taking an overdose in a layby when one of his victims contacted police.

“She felt disgusted by the sequence of events” said Mr Nelson.

One of the victims said she ‘froze’ and was crying when the first brother raped her. She said she was also sexually abused by the second brother in his lorry and said she was "scared of him".

“She described feeling dirty and disgusting having been with him and she would wash immediately after she had been with him,” Mr Nelson said.

The girl said the second brother was aware at the time that the first brother was also abusing her.

The second victim was abused by the first brother from the age of nine and exposed to pornography.

The first brother had no previous convictions.

The second brother was previously jailed for three years for a sexual assault on a different girl when she was aged 11 in 2010.

Robert Edwards, for the first brother, said his client had "a history of depression and anxiety" and suffered from diabetes and had recently had a cataract operation.

He said his client hoped his victims could "move forward from this".

Abigail Nixon, for the second brother, said her client had admitted the offences.

Recorder Timothy Raggatt QC said: “The effect upon these two girls reflected by their victim impact statements, which I have read and considered, must in one sense be incalculable.”

He described the offences as a "persistent course of conduct" and said the abuse would affect both victims for 'the rest of their natural lives'.

"In both cases this is a campaign of rape," said recorder Raggatt.

Both men were told they would serve half their sentences in prison and the remaining half on licence.