A woman who waited more than 40 years to report rape by her brother aged seven to 11 has told how painful it was to be asked to be a bridesmaid at his wedding.
Suzi Holt, 54, from Ely, Cambridgeshire, suffered years of abuse from Ian Martin, 61, who threatened her with surveillance if she revealed the truth and bribed her with sweets to keep her mouth shut.
He was recently found guilty of two rapes and jailed for five years at Cambridge Crown Court.
Now Suzi, a care home cook and mother of three, is courageously giving up her right to anonymity to help other survivors after years of waiting, fearing the confession would ‘destroy’ her late father.
“I want to show that no matter how much time has passed, you will be believed,” she said.
Now Suzi, a care home cook and mother of three, is courageously giving up her right to anonymity to help other survivors
Martin was Suzi’s older half-brother from her mother’s previous relationship.
Because her father worked long hours as a truck driver, the young girl was often left behind with her brother or sister while their mother went out with friends.
“I dreaded those nights,” she admitted. ‘Ian was miserable and moody. I always felt tense around him.’
The horrific assaults started happening when Suzi was seven and left her mother Martin to babysit.
While she was watching TV in the living room, he climbed on top of her and raped her.
Suzi wanted to tell her parents, but Martin scared her by saying she would be put under surveillance if she told anyone.
The abuse occurred weekly, whenever her parents were away – and the young girl had tried to resist her attacker.
“I knew what he did to me was wrong,” she explained.
The horrific assaults started happening when Suzi was seven and left her mother Martin to babysit (Suzi pictured, aged nine)
Ian Martin, 61 (pictured), was recently found guilty of two rapes and jailed for five years at Cambridge Crown Court
‘Once, when I was eight, I told him that what he did to me was naughty and that he should stop doing it to me.
‘But he threatened me again. I desperately wanted it to stop, but I feared the consequences.”
When Suzi was nine, Martin raped her in their great-grandparents’ house while they were playing cards in the other room.
Then he gave her some money to spend on sweets.
“It was like he bought my silence,” she said. “I hated him.”
The following year, Martin invited Suzi to join him and his friends for a motorcycle rally, but when they arrived at the wasteland it was deserted.
“He walked me down to the water’s edge and forced himself on me again,” she said
“I was hoping someone would get him, but we were sheltered by trees and hills.”
When Suzi was nine, Martin raped her in their great-grandparents’ house while they were playing cards in the other room. Martin in the photo, 13 years old
The years of abuse finally came to an end when Suzi got her period.
“I told him he couldn’t touch me anymore,” she said. “Luckily he never laid a finger on me again.”
But Suzi had suffered in silence for years, never telling anyone what she had endured as a child.
When she was 19, Martin met a woman and they became engaged.
Suzi was asked to be a bridesmaid, and even though it was the last thing she wanted to do, she agreed, just to keep people from asking questions.
“I wore a lilac dress and had a cheerful smile,” she revealed. “All I wanted was for his family and friends to know what a monster he really was.”
Years passed and Suzi met her husband. In 1997, she finally told him about her past.
“He was really supportive and encouraged me to go to the police,” she admitted. ‘But I couldn’t do that while my father was still alive. I knew it would destroy him.”
Instead, Suzi found it helpful to open up to her closest friends.
It was only a few years ago, in 2018 – after her father unfortunately passed away – that she decided to report Martin.
“I walked into the station and made my statement,” she recalls. ‘The officers immediately put me at ease.’
The next day, Suzi went to her mother’s house and told her about Martin’s abuse – the older woman was so shocked and horrified that she disowned her son.
In June 2021, Suzi bravely stood before him at Cambridge Crown Court to give her evidence. Pictured today, 54 years old
He was arrested two weeks later but denied the charges.
In June 2021, Suzi bravely stood before him at Cambridge Crown Court to give her evidence.
Martin was found guilty of one rape charge against her, but there was a hung jury on the other, meaning a new trial.
He was released on a label, and Suzi was ‘constantly looking over her shoulder, for fear of meeting him on the street’.
Two years later, the second trial took place and Suzi relived the abuse.
After a three-week trial, Martin was found guilty of another rape.
In June this year he was sentenced to five years in prison and placed on the sex offenders register for life.
“It’s not nearly enough time for what he did to me,” she said.
“But all I ever really wanted was a guilty verdict.
“I share my story to show that no matter how long ago the abuse occurred, you can still get justice.
“I’ve waited more than forty years for mine, and now I’m moving on with my life.”