A WOMAN convicted of setting fire to the house of the man who raped and abused her as a child has slammed the support services offered to victims and described how she has bounced back from her "breaking point".

Julie Barnett, 32, from Llandeilo, has spent her life struggling to get over the abuse she suffered at the hands of her uncle – David Dyas – when she was eight.

Dyas was sentenced to 15 years for rape and sex attacks on schoolgirls in 2007, serving a total of ten years behind bars.

Julie was horrified when she was informed her attacker had already been released from jail despite promises she would be warned beforehand.

Following Dyas' release, she armed herself with matches, legal documents from the case and Victim Support guidelines, and went to Dyas' home on February 6, setting fire to the paperwork on his doormat.

Speaking to the South Wales Guardian, Julie said: "All victims have a breaking point and I'd reached mine."

The mum of two, who waived her right to anonymity, was told she would be given several months' notice ahead of her abuser's release from jail, along with counselling and the installation of CCTV around her home.

Now married, Julie claimed National Probation Service officials broke the news to her two days after Dyas was let out of prison in January.

In desperation, she made 30 phone calls to the probation service in the space of 48 hours begging for help.

When she received no support, she went to Dyas's home in Newbridge, Gwent, scattered Victim Support papers in the porch and set them alight.

However, the property was empty – Dyas, 62, was in a safe house 30 miles away and his wife was away.

At Julie's sentencing on Friday (June 2), Prosecutor Nicholas Gareth Jones said: "There was minor damage to the house, more through luck than judgment.

Her aunt arrived home at midnight and found the burned papers and the fire damage."

He added: "The prosecution accepts that she has been psychologically damaged by what happened to her as a child."

Julie was given a 12-month suspended sentence, a 40-day rehabilitation order and a lifetime Guardian South

restraining order at Newport Crown Court after she admitted arson.

Julie said she was furious her aunt had stood by Dyas despite his convictions.

"I regret what I did but I was having a breakdown.

"I wanted to get the attention of the Probation Service and Victim Support. I was afraid of what Dyas could do to me and my children.

"I'd reached breaking point. I couldn't take being ignored and let down any more knowing he was out

there."

She added: "When I found out Dyas was out I locked myself and the children in the house – I was that afraid.

I went on the internet and read about the protection we should have been getting.

"But I didn't get that help and I still haven't had it now.

"While I was on remand I met other girls who had retaliated against paedophiles. I was not alone.

"But it was never my intention to harm Dyas or my aunt – it was a cry for the help that I was entitled to."

After the arson, Julie was admitted to a psychiatric ward and later remanded into custody at HMP Eastwood

Park.

Here, Julie said, is where she was able to turn her life around.

"The support I received while I was at Eastwood was incredible," she said. "I was diagnosed with PTSD, given

medication and had counselling to learn how to cope with what happened to me.

"I learnt coping mechanisms to help me when I have nightmares and flashbacks."

Julie now wants to help other women and children who have suffered similar experiences.

"My advice to anyone in a similar situation to mine would be to read, as much as you can. Know you're rights, know the legislation and the Acts and complain until you are heard."

Julie will be fundraising for Action for Children - a charity which intervenes early to stop the abuse of vulnerable children.

"I don't want anyone to have to go through a situation like mine and not feel supported under those horrible circumstances."

The National Probation Service has apologised.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice, which runs the service, said sex offenders on licence were 'robustly risk assessed and subject to a strict set of conditions."