My sorrow for family that Harris now leaves behind

In all the trauma of Rolf Harris’s public shaming and disgrace, my heart went out to the two women who have stood by him, believed in him and supported him his wife Alwen and daughter Bindi.

Imagine what they are feeling?

They were by his side every day of his trial in London and they were there when he was found guilty on 12 counts of indecent assault on girls aged seven to 19.

Now, as the 84-year-old starts a prison sentence for his crimes, their lives have changed forever.

Other families have suffered the same horror Stuart Hall’s family, Max Clifford’s family and Jimmy Savile’s relatives. There would be a time when all these people basked in the reflected glory of their relative who enjoyed the adulation of the public.

How ashamed they must be now of these men convicted of the most horrible form of abuse. Men who ruthlessly exploited youngsters, causing them emotional damage which in many cases lasted a lifetime.

So how do the families of the perpetrators live with the knowledge that the husband or father they trusted hid the darkest of secrets?

Rolf Harris’s only daughter Bindi at one time believed him to be her hero. Many teenage girls feel that way about their dad. He’s the strong one, the clever one, the one they can turn to in all the circumstances of their life.

As a girl grows up, her dad is the one she looks to for advice about how to handle situations. She trusts him to be there for her not just providing the cash for her lifestyle, but for the rock-solid support which is part of fatherhood.

If the relationship is good, they have a laugh together. She can tell him her worries. She can ask his opinion about boys, clothes, school, jobs and so on. He fixes her bike, he may teach her to drive, he collects her from the airport after her first holiday with her pals. He drives her and her giggling mates to a disco. He might still be awake when she comes home. He might read the riot act. She might be grounded for a week and she’ll grumble to her pals about her sad old dad.

The day may come when he walks her proudly down the aisle, his eyes filling with tears, his voice shaky when he makes his speech.

Fathers and daughters have a lovely relationship when it works. When it’s based on honesty and trust. But I wonder how Bindi Nicholls can come to terms with the fact she’s lost the man she thought was her talented, successful father who’d been honoured and feted by millions of TV viewers, other celebrities, even the Queen. I hope that in time she comes to terms with the truth and that she finds peace of mind and heart.

Losing someone you love this way is a grief beyond measure. A loss without end.

All those who have been convicted recently for crimes against children will pay the price in prison. Their families may have their freedom but the pain and shame will never go away.