Select a region
A woman who claims she witnessed a man sexually assaulting two young girls has told the Royal Court of her "guilt" at not speaking out sooner.
Appearing as a witness at the trial of Ricky Derek Knight (56), who denies 14 charges of indecent assault or committing acts of gross indecency against two girls under-16 over a five-year period, the woman claimed she had seen Mr Knight that grabbing the older girl's clothing.
The witness said she then saw Mr Knight pulling down the alleged victim's pants down, before he "belted her on the bottom with his hand".
She also claimed his behaviour had included tickling "roughly and inappropriately". She said seeing this made her feel "uncomfortable".
The jury heard that Mr Knight allegedly called the older girl "fat" and "disgusting". He also commented on the younger girl's breasts, according to the witness.
When the woman questioned Mr Knight on his behaviour, she said that he had laughed and claimed it was 'a bit of fun'.
Advocate Adam Harrison, defending, asked the woman why she did not report any of this to the police if she deemed the actions inappropriate.
She replied: "I beat myself up daily that I did nothing at the time.
"It is my guilt to live with."
The court heard on Monday that Mr Knight denied hitting the girl on the bottom and making comments about the other's breasts.
On the second day of the trial, one of the teenagers spoke about how she feared she would be raped by Mr Knight.
In video evidence, the girl said the defendant had put his hand inside her shirt and groped her breasts on numerous occasions.
She described one incident in which she recalled: "He pinned me down on the floor and pulled up my shirt. I thought I was going to get raped or something."
On the first day of the trial the court heard video evidence from the older girl, who said she was made to perform sex acts on the accused and allow him to perform sex acts on her in return for cigarettes and mobile phone credits.
The trial, which is due to last for the rest of this week, continues.
55-year-old denies sexually assaulting young girls
Man accused of giving teen cigarettes in return for sex acts
"I thought I was going to get raped or something"
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.