Two brothers have been found guilty of raping two young girls more than 40 years ago.

David Woolham, 60, of Highgate Road, Clayton Heights, and 59-year-old wheelchair-bound Peter Woolham, of Prospect Street, Buttershaw, had denied a total of 12 offences, between 1965 and 1982.

But yesterday, a jury at Bradford Crown Court found Peter Woolham guilty, by majority verdict, of four offences of rape, two offences of indecent assault and one offence of gross indecency.

His brother was found guilty, also by majority verdict, of two offences of rape.

David Woolham was found not guilty of a further offence of rape between January 21, 1971, and January 20, 1973, and an indecent assault between June 14, 1962, and June 15, 1968.

He was also found not guilty of indecent assault of a third alleged victim between February 4, 1979, and February 5, 1982.

After the jury had delivered its verdict, Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC told the court how the legal system had not let the victims down.

He said: “The one thing this case has demonstrated is that no matter how old the offendant, no matter how many years the victims have lived with the trauma and the scarring of these events, once again, when the victims have found the courage and the resolve to make complaints, the legal system and in particular the prosecution and the jury system, has not let them down.”

During the trial, prosecutor Gerald Hendron told the jury how one woman told police that David Woolham came round to her home and raped her when she was 11.

She alleged the two brothers sexually assaulted her.

Mr Hendron told the court how the second woman came forward saying the men sexually assaulted her from when she was six years old.

Peter Woolham was arrested in January this year and denied all the offences. His brother, arrested the following month, also said the allegations were completely untrue and said the three women were lying.

The brothers were bailed for sentencing on Friday, January 21, 2011.