January 2013 Family of child sex assault victim describe how they were ‘groomed’ by paedophile Neil Swift THE family of a vulnerable child abused by a family friend have described the last year as a “living nightmare”. Since the shocking revelations were unearthed, they have waited for justice against Neil Swift. Now the 50-year-old from Rose Avenue in Haydock has been jailed for four-and-a-half-years at Liverpool Crown Court for sexual assault against the five-year-old boy. Speaking on behalf of the family, a relative explained: “I cannot explain what it has done to us. “We just want people to know what he’s done, because we don’t want to happen to anyone else. “He groomed us and gained the family’s trust, preying on a vulnerable child. We have now lost trust in everyone and can’t accept any outside help whatsoever. “We feel very betrayed by him. We have lived a nightmare for more than a year and re-live it every day. “We are hurt and very angry. You shut yourself off from the outside world and bottle everything up. “You think it’s going to be closure after he was sentenced, but we had to relive it; going over it again and again. “He showed no emotion in court, even when sentenced. He may have got four-and-a-half-years, but it wasn’t long enough.” Swift is the son of Bill Swift, who was the mayor of St Helens from 2005 to 2006.