A WOMAN wept as she spoke about the alleged sexual abuse she suffered from the age of five during the 1970s.

Philip Oliver denies the abuse took place in Dines Green, Worcester between 1971 and 1980 as his trial began at the city's crown court yesterday.

The 70-year-old has pleaded not guilty to six indecent assaults against a child, four counts of indecency with a child, one count of sexual intercourse with a girl under 16 and one count of attempting to have sexual intercourse with a girl aged under 16.

James Dunstan, prosecuting, opened the case to the jury nine men and three women, describing how Oliver put his hands down the complainant's pants when she was aged just four or five years old.

During the abuse the complainant said Oliver kissed her neck in the back room of a shop, tickled her, rubbed her chest, used her hand to perform a sex act on himself, incited her to perform a further sex act on him, inserted an object into her body and had full sex with her, leaving her in pain.

The prosecutor told the jury it was 'exploitation and abuse' by the pensioner, then a man of 22.

"She was still too young to have the faintest idea what was happening to her was abusive" said Mr Dunstan. At one stage during the time of the alleged abuse the complainant said she saw Oliver crying.

"This is a man realising he has fallen into an abyss. It's appalling" said Mr Dunstan.

He referred to the potential consequences as 'ruinous' and added: "It has absorbed her, sadly, ever since childhood."

The alleged victim said Oliver, now of Wilson Road, Shurdington, near Cheltenham, had a packet of condoms but she thought they were balloons and she said he sprayed foam on her belly.

The victim described how some of the abuse took place during the Silver Jubilee and she remembered hearing Elton John songs playing in the background.

The complainant reported the alleged abuse to the police in 1993 but no records were available. She reported it again in 2016 when she was video interviewed by police.

Oliver was arrested and interviewed, telling police officer the complainant's allegations had 'escalated' since she spoke to police in 1993. Mr Dunstan referred to his interview as 'a fudge'.

The alleged victim's police video interview was played to the jury. She could be seen wringing her hands and broke down several times. She said Oliver had worked in a clothes shop in Worcester and as a milkman, that Oliver told her she would be a 'beautiful woman one day'.

She said: "I wasn't treated badly. I wasn't attacked. I wasn't forced to do anything" she said.

She said of him kissing her: "It felt really, really ultra-good but not, at the same time, because I couldn't breathe."

The complainant described Oliver as having 'rough' and 'sharp' hands and how he would leave open his dressing gown, exposing his genitals.

The trial continues.

  • Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) and grooming can be incredibly hard to recognise, as many warning signs can easily be mistaken for typical child or adolescent behaviour. To report an instance of child sexual exploitation, including historic incidents call 101 (999 in an emergency) or call Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555 111. For more information about CSE and spotting the signs, please visit http://www.tell-someone.org/home