A Hong Kong cook has been jailed for 18 years for persistently sexually abusing the daughter he shares with his mistress, also slammed by the judge for trying to keep the victim silent about the defendant’s crimes.

The High Court on Wednesday said a deterrent sentence was necessary for the 61-year-old to reflect society’s abhorrence of the “evil” crimes he committed against the girl when she was aged 11 to 18.

The accused, identified only by his initials TML to protect his daughter’s identity, pleaded guilty last year to six counts of rape and three of indecent assault.

The married man is a father of six, three of whom were born to his mistress from mainland China.

He has three previous convictions, including one for indecent assault in 1987, but had never been jailed before this case.

The court heard the defendant raped his daughter, X, and molested her twice at her home in Haifeng county, Guangdong, in May and June 2015, when she was 11.