A DRIVING instructor is on trial at Bradford Crown Court accused of sexually abusing three little girls after enticing them with money and chocolate biscuits.

Duncan Carney, 53, would tell children: "Watch out, the pervert's coming," the jury has been told.

Carney, of Norwood Street, Bankfoot, Bradford, denies five offences of sexual activity with a child under 13 and one count of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

The charges involved three girls, aged between seven and 12, prosecutor Glenn Parsons said.

He alleged Carney "controlled and manipulated" the little girls with enticement and fear.

The trial has heard that Carney was arrested in July last year after the seven-year-old girl was found by her father alone in the street after midnight when she should have been asleep at a friend's house.

Her pink nightclothes were undone and she said Carney had put his hand inside her clothing on a dark staircase and touched her indecently.

It is alleged Carney gave way to temptation that night after drinking vodka, repeatedly going upstairs at a party to use the bathroom knowing three young girls were in a bedroom.

The jury heard that the child told her mother Carney had touched her indecently "loads of times" before but she had been too scared to tell.

Giving evidence, the girl's father said he grabbed Carney by the throat and punched him.

A girl aged 12 told the court Carney whispered: "If you show me your knickers, I'll give you 50 pence. If you pull them down, I'll give you £1."

It is alleged he squeezed her breasts under her top on another occasion, saying: "These feel much better than these melons."

The child told the jury: "It felt horrible. His wife was upstairs."

Carney blew kisses at a third girl, tried to look up her dress and touched her leg up to four times, the jury was told.

In his closing speech, Mr Parsons said: "The community had to come to terms with the fact that they had a child molester in their midst."

Carney, who elected not to give evidence, told the police he touched the girl's breast by mistake when trying to take a chocolate biscuit off her.

He said he offered her extra money for "polishing the dashboard" when she was cleaning his car.

Carney's actions have been misconstrued and he is totally innocent of all the charges against him, his barrister Tim Capstick told the jury.

The jury retired yesterday to begin considering its verdicts and was resuming its deliberations at today.