Jury to retire in alleged indecent assaults trial

Wednesday 02 August 2017

The jury is due to retire today to consider their verdict in the Royal Court trial of a 37-year-old man who is accused of a series of indecent assaults on a young girl.

Paul Trevor Moore is pleading not guilty to all charges against him, including four counts of indecent assault and six of procuring an act of gross indecency.

Yesterday, Crown Advocate Richard Pedley concluded the prosecution case with his closing speech. He described the trial as "short" and said it relied on one "simple" question, "is the child telling the truth?"

He then attacked the defence case which he said sits on the allegation that Mr Moore was set up. "It is a guess, there is no evidence to substantiate it." 

Crown Advocate Pedley said should the girl be lying, it would be a "complex and sophisticated fabrication over the period of nine months. "She described it in the vocabulary she has available to her, in her own words. Is a young child sophisticated enough to come up with those allegations?"

He added later on, "This is not an account that has been made up, there is no motive."

"It is a simple but uncomfortable truth that he assaulted her," said Crown Advocate Pedley. "He sexually exploited her for his own needs. She was so young and so innocent, she didn’t realise what was happening and it took her a year to finally tell her mother what had happened. She knew it was something odd. She didn’t like it."

He then concluded saying: "I know you have listened to her. I ask that you draw the only sensible conclusion that she told the truth and convict the defendant."

Mr Moore's advocate, Sarah Dale, then addressed the jury. She started by saying the child had never touched Mr Moore and that he "...never even attempted to procure her to do those things. There is no evidence of that whatsoever."

She urged the Jury to "apply common sense" and told them "If it seems improbable to you, it probably is."

The advocate then told them they couldn't take the girl's evidence "at face value" because it was "tainted" by her mother's questions. 

"There is little evidence given by the victim but when you consider the influence of her mother throughout the investigation, the little evidence given is of no evidential value to you because of its unreliability."

She continued: "There is risk that if they are questioned, a child might agree to what is put to them. Children are suggestable, they get confused easily, children can be led, they will try to please and say what they think you want to hear." 

Advocate Dale also criticised the Police for not carrying out forensic tests to check if the allegations made by the child were true. "There is no evidence to corroborate what she says just as there are no other evidence to exonerate Mr Moore. Why is that? Because the Police failed to properly investigate the matter."

She concluded her speech saying: "In the circumstances, I urge you to consider all the evidence before you and to conclude Mr Moore is not guilty of every count."

 Royal Court Commissioner Sir Michael Birt is due to give directions to the jury this morning, before they can retire to consider their verdict.