Man abused brothers in bedroom of family home, trial jury told

Man abused brothers in bedroom of family home, trial jury told

25 April 2012

A JURY will this morning be asked to reach a verdict following the trial of a 37 year-old man accused of sexually abusing two brothers.

The man, who is from the Newcastle area but who cannot be named to protect the identity of his alleged victims, is accused of assaulting the two boys when they were between six and 10 years old as they were being baby-sat by his sister.

During a week long trial that drew to an end yesterday afternoon, a jury of six men and six women heard from a number of witnesses including the alleged injured parties who described details of abuse which they said happened while their mother was at work.

They claimed the abuse happened in the defendant’s family home where they were being cared for by the defendant’s sister and said they were given money by the defendant after the abuse.

One brother tearfully recalled the defendant lying on a bed in an upstairs bedroom of his house while he sexually assaulted him. He admitted his memory was not entirely clear and that he did not remember how he ended up in the bedroom.

“The next thing I recall is being downstairs at the front door and being handed two 20 pence pieces,” he said.

One of the injured parties also told the court he recalled being in an upstairs bedroom with the defendant when the defendant’s mother walked into the room while he was being abused. He said the defendant covered himself with a tea-towel and the incident went unnoticed.

The court heard that one of the brothers approached the defendant before going to the police in 2011. He said he asked him why he had abused him and claimed the defendant said he was sorry and that “his head had been messed up at the time” over a family death.

However, the defendant denied the abuse in court and said he had hardly been in the house when his sister was baby-sitting. He also denied ever giving money to the injured parties.

Members of his family also gave evidence in his defence, insisting the defendant would not have had the opportunity to commit abuse because he was not often home and that the bedrooms where the abuse is alleged to have occurred were locked and out of bounds for the two children who were being minded.

They said it was also impossible the boys had been abused by the defendant because they maintained close contact with the family over the years and moved into a house shared by the defendant and his sister as teenagers when they had a fall-out with their mother.

The defendant’s sister wept as she told the court; “My brother would not have done that; I have known him for years.”

The defendant’s mother also told the court that it was impossible that the two boys were upstairs at any time, she also said they could not have been playing computer games with the defendant as they claimed because the family could not afford such games at that time.

The jury will this morning be asked to deliberate over two charges of indecent assault and one charge of incitement to commit an act of gross indecency. The charges relate to unknown dates between June 28, 1998, and June 27, 2001.