The third day of the trial of an Isle of Wight councillor has ended after hearing from the alleged victim’s father.
A 46-year-old male defendant is charged with two counts of rape between June 1990 and March 1992 and one of indecent assault of a girl under 13 years old, by having sexual intercourse, between March and June 1990.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Since the start of the trial on Monday, the jury at the Isle of Wight Crown Court has heard about the alleged ordeal suffered by the woman at the hands of the defendant when they were both children.
She said,
“You took my virginity from me and that is something that should not have happened.”
Father’s testimony
Today (Wednesday), the jury heard from the woman’s father, who recalled the time, almost 30 years later, his daughter told him about one of the alleged incidents.
He said,
“She had asked me to come over and talk to me about something.
“She said she had been raped by the defendant. We didn’t go into too much detail as she was very distressed.
“It was obvious she had suffered from a nervous breakdown.”
Alleged victim: Breakdown due to rape
John Dyer, for the defence, questioned whether the breakdown had just been down to the alleged rape and not other factors.
Mr Dyer said in the woman’s father’s statement to police, she had told him there was pressure from work that had affected her.
However, she thought the breakdown was due to the rape.
Her father confirmed the woman had changed position at work because of the stress it was causing.
Pinpointing when the alleged offences took place
Another area focused on by both defence and prosecution was trying to pinpoint when the alleged offences could have happened.
The woman has been unable to say exactly when the incidents took place, but given broad timeframes in her childhood years through the use of her school uniforms and medical records.
School photographs were produced by the woman’s father from 1989 and 1990 which showed part of the uniform worn at the time.
Alleged victim denied making up allegations
Yesterday, the woman denied making up the allegations, saying she wished she had imagined it and questioned why she would put herself through this if it were some weird dream.
The court heard her trauma symptoms were getting worse and she saw the defendant’s face on strangers.
The trial continues tomorrow (Thursday).
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
