“I never thought that one night could change so much. It changed everything I knew about myself. My body became something I no longer wanted to associate with, and my voice became something I no longer wanted, because in the moment I needed it most, it failed to protect me. It’s like looking in the mirror and not recognising the person, staring back, feeling like your body isn’t yours anymore, like it belongs to the memory of what happened instead.

“Not even wanting to be associated with yourself because you feel so violated and disgusted to be you. Standing in front of the mirror and facing the reflection of that night is a pain I can’t avoid. It’s a constant reminder that the past is engraved in who I am, and accepting that truth is a struggle I face every day.”

She said: “I was forced in a moment that didn’t end for me. When he was finished, it followed me. When he was done, he got to walk away, but I was left to deal with the battle. I have been left to carry a trauma that invades every part of my life, and he was able to leave and return to his life without consequence. Mine feels like it’s fallen apart. I wasn’t the child who used to be full of light and laughter. That version of me slowly faded, which meant my friendships began to shift.

Recalling the trial proceedings, she stated: “I sat in a chair waiting, carrying the weight of everything I had been through and building up the courage it took just to be there. Just before I was about to go in. It was a journey for reasons outside my control. It was another moment where I felt out of control and another time my life was put on hold. At the time, I got told I was being brave, but I didn’t feel brave. I felt powerless and tired.

“That day became yet another reminder that this person still has influence over my life. Just by delaying, deciding and dragging things out, it feels like another act of control, and that hurts in a way that’s hard to explain. I was still stuck in a cycle of waiting, wondering, and reliving everything over and over in my head. I refuse to let the person who did this to me keep that power. I’m doing it for freedom so I can heal from this one day. Because more than anything, I want to carry peace in a place that has been filled with such darkness for so long.”

Overcome with emotion, a tearful Martin told Charlie: “Charlie, what can you say? I mean, there’s no child who should have to say that. There’s no parent who should have to know that’s happened to their child, and there’s no court in the land that should deny a victim the right to say that and to have their moment of closure. And that’s what happened in this case.

“I know you put a huge amount of work into helping this family and to making sure that we heard that. I think the nation deserves to hear that. And it’s an astonishing Charlie. We speak so often of just the astonishing, mind blowing bravery of these children who can somehow put that down in a way to get their feelings. I’m completely blown away by the wonderful personality that you just hope survives and makes it through this.”

Charlie responded: “The family are keen for that to come through, keen for us to hear this information today, because this brave survivor has been through something that nobody should have to endure.