A PENDLE father-of-three was allegedly a “drunken bully” who raped his stepdaughter when she was nine and inflicted violence on her and her brother, who both lived in fear of him, a jury was told.
Burnley Crown Court heard claims the “vicious” man took advantage of the fact the girl was scared of him and terrified her for years.
The hearing was told the defendant, his then wife and the children were once on holiday with another family and the other mother was worried about the alleged victims. She had been reading a book entitled: “A Child Called It” about child abuse. Prosecutor Miss Kathryn Johnson told the court: “The girl asked to read the book and over the week the woman heard her saying to herself as she was reading: ‘This is me.’”
The man was alleged to have smashed the girl’s head on a worktop in the family home, twisted her wrist, flung her on the floor and hit her. The girl’s brother was also allegedly injured by the defendant who, on one occasion, banged his head into a kitchen draining board, picked up a knife and threatened to kill him.
The defendant, now 48, denies rape, two counts of cruelty to a person under 16 and two charges of assault causing actual bodily harm relating to the girl and two allegations of cruelty to a person under 16 against the boy. The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is alleged to have committed the offences between 2000 and 2010.
Miss Johnson told the jury: “It’s the prosecution case that the defendant was a drunken bully. He was an abusive stepfather, was violent to both the girl and boy and one occasion raped the girl when she was nine.”
The prosecutor said, on holiday, the other mother would say the girl had done something to upset her stepfather who tried to kick her and shouted at her in a vicious manner. The woman spoke to the alleged victims’ mother, who saw herself stuck in the middle, trying to keep her husband happy. When she did confront him, he was aggressive and would say the situation was her fault.
Miss Johnson said the wife left the defendant and became increasingly concerned over her daughter’s behaviour. She and a friend later went with the girl to hospital. The prosecutor continued: “The girl told the friend she had been sexually abused by the defendant when she was nine. Following this, the police became involved.”
Miss Johnson said, in February last year, the girl told police the defendant had gone into her room after he had been drinking and raped her. The prosecutor went on: “She remembers closing her eyes and that it hurt a lot, but she didn’t, being the age she was, really understand what was happening.”
The jury heard when the defendant allegedly hit his stepdaughter’s head on a worktop, she went to hospital, but lied about what had happened as she was scared. She eventually left the family home.
Miss Johnson said the girl’s brother would allegedly be hit by the defendant as punishment for minor things. He was assaulted for leaving a dirty mark on his bed sheets and was left with his face red and swollen. At first, he thought his stepfather’s behaviour was normal, but as he got older he began to question it, leading to a row when the defendant allegedly threatened with a knife.
The defendant grabbed his stepson’s head, banged it on the draining board and picked up the knife. His sister ran next door for help and the neighbour allegedly heard the man threatening to kill his stepson. The alleged victim moved out and was shunned by his stepfather.
Miss Johnson said the defendant was arrested over the rape allegation and told police he had no idea why the girl was making up allegations, although he later claimed she might be resentful over the family break-up. He told officers his wife had been too soft on the children, the girl had showed a lack of respect and said the rape allegation was a “total fabrication.”
The prosecutor said the defendant told police he had never caused physical harm to his stepdaughter, but might have grabbed her and shaken her.
(Proceeding)
There’s more on this case in Friday’s Leader-Times Newspapers