The Royal Court building

THE defendant in the historical abuse trial at the Royal Court has admitted sexually abusing a girl when she was 13 or 14 in the 1970s – and he told the police when interviewed that he knew one day they would question him over it.

Claude James Donnelly (69), who is known as Jimmy, denies raping the girl four times, sexually assaulting her nine times when she was aged between eight and 12, and commissioning her to commit an act of gross indecency on him. The charges are alleged to have taken place between 1967 and 1973.

However, he admits sexually assaulting her on two occasions when she was 13 or 14. The case, being heard by an assize jury,  is part of the historical child abuse inquiry, but is not connected with the former children’s home Haut de la Garenne.

On Monday the alleged victim gave evidence and described how, as a child, she was subjected to sexual assault and rape by Donnelly over a number of years.

Advocate Mike Preston, defending, said that Donnelly denied her claim that he had sexually assaulted her when she was eight. He had admitted having sexual intercourse from when she was 13, but said it was consensual. The woman denied that this was the case. ‘He made threats to me and I was terrified of this man,’ she said. He was due to give evidence this morning.