Mum of man accused of raping young girl gives evidence at his trial

Joyce Clayton told Bradford Crown Court that she noticed nothing untoward when she went to the house where Liam Bacon, then aged 12, was looking after the girl.

Liam Bacon, of Keighley Road, Denholme, denies four charges of raping the girl, now in her mid-teens, in Bradford between 2004 and 2006.

He is said to have dressed the girl, then aged five, in her mother's red thong before raping her.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, confided in a school friend in 2013 after learning about sexual health issues in class.

Staff at the college she attends were alerted and the police were called, prosecutor Jeremy Hill-Baker told the court earlier this week.

Yesterday, the jury heard from Miss Clayton, who was asked by Liam Bacon's barrister Amanda Johnson if she saw anything odd happening between her son and the girl.

She replied: "I did not. If I had done I would have said something."

Miss Clayton also answered "Never" when asked if she had any suspicions that something was going on.

Clifford Bacon, 32, told the court that he regularly let his brother, Liam Bacon, babysit for his children over the years, and that he still does to this day.

In his closing speech, prosecutor Jeremy Hill-Baker told the jury: "This defendant had ample opportunities to commit these offences. He babysat many, many times.

"When the victim described being carried from where she was into her mother's bedroom and being made to wear an item of her mother's underwear, was that a figment of her imagination?

"There were ample opportunities for this defendant, in his early teens, to engage in this behaviour in this dangerous way."

Miss Johnson said the complainant's account of events was "confused", and told the jury: "You have to be sure that the complainant has told you the truth and that she is an honest and reliable witness."

Judge Colin Burn will carry out his summing up of the case this morning.

The trial continues.