A child abuse victim who watched his now-elderly attackers get jailed for 21 years said they “got off lightly” after ruining his life.

The man, now 60, told the Gazette Valerie Stannard, 73, and her husband Roy, 74, showed “no fear” when they were sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court yesterday.

Valerie was given nine years behind bars and Roy 12 after they were convicted in March of a combined 18 counts of child abuse and indecent assault.

They had both denied the offences, which dated from the 1960s to the 1980s when they lived in Stoke Newington and related to five children – one of whom was sexually assaulted by Roy.

During a four-week trial, the court heard Valerie had shoved burning paper down one boy’s trousers, held his hand over a gas flame and jammed a bar of soap down his throat. Roy would punch him “as if he were a man” and once hung him on the back of a door with a coat hanger.

The abuse left him with serious mental health problems that led to him trying to kill himself and getting in trouble with police. It also led to him being unable to raise his daughter.

Speaking after the sentencing, he said: “I don’t think they got enough. Valerie could get out in a couple of years on good behaviour.

“I lost my baby through what they did to me. They [social services] said I couldn’t bring my child up because they were worried I would abuse her.

“I still can’t afford to get proper treatment and I’ve hid myself away from everybody.”

The victim brought his attackers to justice after finally feeling “strong enough” to tell police about it three years ago following a spell of counselling.

“I feel a lot better knowing they got sentenced but she [Valerie] got off lightly,” he said. “And they seemed like they didn’t care. There was no fear – nothing.”

Valerie was found guilty of nine counts of cruelty to a child and cleared of one count of the same charge.

Roy was found guilty of three counts of cruelty to a child, four counts of indecent assault and two counts of indecency with a child.

He had asked a girl, when she was 11, if he could touch her, before groping her and rubbing his penis on her back. He also asked her to masturbate him.

He got nine years for the sexual offences and three years for the cruelty. He was also cleared of three counts of indecent assault on a boy.