A Co Armagh couple were found guilty today of inflicting years of brutal cruelty and humiliation on seven children which only ended with the suspected suicide of one of their victims.
The man and woman were responsible for one of the worst cases of violent neglect ever heard in Northern Ireland.
With the woman having already confessed mid-trial to a catalogue of ill-treatment, the jury of eight women and four men at Antrim Crown Court sitting in Coleraine, Co Derry, took just one hour and 40 minutes to unanimously convict her partner of all 16 counts against him.
He had beaten the children, some on a near daily basis, throughout a terrifying regime stretching back almost 15 years.
One of the youngest victims was threatened with being shot or stabbed if he told the authorities about the abuse.
As the verdict was read out, the man stood emotionless in the dock, while the woman sat stony-faced with friends and relatives.
Across the courtroom, some of the children wept while others gasped and cheered the outcome.
Outside, as the couple, who cannot be named to protect their victims' identities, were released on bail until they are sentenced, a spokesman for the children expressed his loathing for what the pair had done.
"He is an evil, evil man," he said. "He's nothing but a big bully and any time he was confronted, he stood behind her (co-accused).
"Justice has finally been done for these children. They have been subjected to years of violence and one of them had to die to save the rest."