Father, a “firefighter hero,” raped his own children in a horror house

A father who was considered a firefighter hero secretly raped his children at home.

Melrose, who is gay, caught her father raping her younger brother Mark, who was only six at the time, when she was 10 on a family holiday. As Wales Online reported, her biological father, Brian Doye, waged a violent campaign against each of his children for a decade at a time.

He left notes under Gay’s pillow telling her he would visit her that night. He told her “all fathers do this to their daughters” and threatened to have her killed if she told anyone. In addition to the sexual abuse, he beat Mark every day.

To the outside world, Doye was a pillar of the community. He was a senior firefighter in London, had planned to run for city council and had offered to be a foster parent. But behind closed doors he ran a “house of horrors” and abused his two children, which only stopped when they left home at the ages of 16 and 18.

After fleeing his abuse, Gay, now 56, and Mark, 53, did not see their father again until April 2024, when they faced him at Swansea Crown Court. Almost five decades after he abused his children, a third victim came forward in 2021 and reported Doye for sexual abuse. From here, police tracked down Gay and Mark, who also decided to report their father for the horrific abuse he inflicted on them.

They said the “huge guilt” they felt about not reporting the abuse in the 1970s when it happened and the feeling they could have prevented it from happening to other people prompted them to come forward. The siblings have waived their right to automatic anonymity to tell their story as they believe there are likely more victims of Doye.

At sentencing on May 24, the court heard the offending began in the mid-1970s and continued until the early 2020s, involving two girls and a boy. Doye, who lived in Ystalyfera at the time of his arrest, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for 27 counts of child rape, attempted child rape, child molestation, attempted child molestation, sexual assault of a child, possession of indecent images, making indecent images and voyeurism. As a result, the 77-year-old is likely to die in prison.

Judge Catherine Richards said the defendant lived into his 70s with “a cloak of respectability” and manipulated those around him, when in reality he was a “diehard paedophile” who posed a danger to young children. The judge said Doye had destroyed his victims’ childhoods but that they survived was a testament to their strength.

Gay, Mark and the third victim, who wishes to remain anonymous for legal reasons, survived Doye’s horrific abuse but describe how their lives have been completely changed as a result of the abuse.

Gay, who now lives in Kent, and Mark, who lives in Cambridgeshire, say the abuse “ate them from the inside out”. They described how the abuse made them treat their own children differently. Mark said it felt “wrong” to bathe his own children and change their nappies. Gay said when their daughter was born, she found it difficult to let her husband look after her.

Doye’s tenure lasted nearly five decades before victims reported him. Gay and Mark believe there may be more crimes committed by their father that went unreported. They have decided to waive their legal right to raise awareness and also plan to set up a support organization to help others.

Mark, who now has two daughters and a stepdaughter of his own, said: “We always should have done it (reported) but we didn’t. We feel enormous guilt that if we had said something earlier there wouldn’t have been another victim, or at least you hope it wouldn’t have happened. It was a horrible feeling.”

“We decided we had to do it because he’s done it again and he’s probably done it many times in the meantime. We should have done something years ago to stop this. One of the reasons we want to get our names out there is because we want to set up a helpline or charity to get people to come out because we’ve repressed it and it’s eating us up from the inside. It destroys your life, your mind, yourself.”

Mark was first raped by his father at the age of six after his sister escaped from his clutches. Doye was about to sexually assault her when Mark came into the room. Gay then managed to escape, but while she was gone, her father turned against Mark.

Mark described the abuse: “When I was raped in the trailer that she came into. I was about six when it started. It kind of became the norm in our childhood and at that age you don’t really realise it’s wrong and when you get a bit older you don’t know it anymore.”

“I think I was about 15 when it stopped. I’ve blocked out a lot of it, but obviously I don’t know how many times it happened. I remember key moments when he sexually abused me in other ways. As far as the physical abuse goes, he beat me almost every day. Back then, he would break my ribs, snap his fingers, crack my head and do so much to me.”

Mark says he feels strongly about waiving his right to anonymity because he is a man and reports sexual abuse by men far too rarely. He hopes that setting up a charity and hotline will also help him ease the financial burden of going to court as a victim.

Gay struggles with guilt because she believes they could have protected other victims if they had reported what happened to them sooner. But she also feels guilt for not being able to protect her younger brother.

Gay, now 56, has three children and three grandchildren of her own. She says that between the ages of eight and 16, Doye raped her once or twice a month with her father. She said she first told a friend about what had happened ten years ago, after bottling it up for four decades.

She said: “The thing is, in the 70s and 80s there was no such thing as media and the internet and he would say things like ‘all fathers do this to their daughters’ and he would also say things like ‘if I tell anyone they’ll kill me’. I only told my best friend ten years ago and she was my school friend.

“I don’t remember the treatment, but he started raping me when I was eight years old. We don’t remember most of our childhood, just certain parts. It continued until I was 16. He would have continued until I was 18 and left home, but I had grown up a bit by then and was able to defend myself against him.”

Gay says the rapes became a “regular” occurrence and that because of her age, she was unable to process her emotions. When she read her personal victim impact statement in court, Gay addressed the last part directly to Doye, who she said showed no emotion or responsibility despite his guilt.

She said: “He looked and stared as if to say, ‘You’re going to pay for this.’ The last part was just read to him and there was no emotion, nothing. You talk about the most horrific things and he sits there with no emotion whatsoever.”

“I’m glad he’s gone now. I don’t know what would have happened if he hadn’t. But that’s it, his life is over now. We did something we never thought would happen.”

Like Mark, Gay says she feels there may be more victims and wants to raise awareness.

After the verdict, South Wales Police Detective Inspector Sharon Gill-Lewis said: “I hope that the sentence Brian Doye has received will provide some closure for his victims after all these years. His behaviour towards his victims over a number of years was scandalous; he clearly thought he could get away with his actions.”

“I would like to express my gratitude to all the victims in this case who have shown incredible strength and courage throughout the investigation and trial. We take a strong stance against sexual crimes and today’s verdict sends a clear message that we will bring those who sexually abuse and exploit children to justice.

“South Wales Police remains committed to tackling all forms of sexual abuse and has specially trained officers assigned to each case. We work with our partner agencies to support those affected by this type of abuse and I would encourage anyone to report abuse in any form to the police. All reports are thoroughly investigated.”

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