EGAN, NOW 80, WAS SENTENCED TO 24 MONTHS IN PRISON, SUSPENDED FOR 24 MONTHS, AND LATER INCREASED TO FOUR YEARS' IMPRISONMENT AFTER APPEAL
Miriam Lake, aged 47 and from Bradwell, was subjected to severe emotional and physical abuse by her stepfather Michael Egan.Egan, now 80 and residing in Lowestoft, inflicted harm on her from when she was nine until she was sixteen.
Ms Lake, who chose not to remain anonymous, endured Egan’s abusive behavior until her mother finally found the strength to seek help through a Women's Aid shelter.
The abuse included Egan fracturing her ribs, smashing a cup into her face, and forcing her to lick dog feces off his shoes.
Despite reporting incidents to her teachers, the abuse remained hidden, partly because Egan would relocate the family across counties whenever social services were alerted.
It was only in 1993 that her family, including her mother and siblings, managed to escape Egan’s control.
After her mother passed away, Miriam fought for over two years to bring her case to court.
In October 2022, Egan was sentenced to 24 months in prison, suspended for the same period, and was ordered to pay £1,000 in costs.
Following the sentence, the case was appealed, and in December 2022, the Court of Appeal deemed the original punishment "unduly lenient" and increased the sentence to four years.
In July 2024, Miriam received correspondence from the Ministry of Justice indicating that the government planned to amend the law.
The proposed change would allow certain prisoners serving a fixed-term sentence to be released early on licence.
The letter confirmed that Egan qualified for this scheme and was consequently released in September 2024, after serving only 19 months of his four-year sentence.
