Counsels in trial of Daryl Taylor, 33, of Bramford Road, Ipswich, sum up arguments at Ipswich Crown Court

The counsels in the trial of a 33-year-old man accused of a spate of child sexual offences summed up their arguments in court today.

Daryl Taylor, of Bramford Road, Ipswich, appeared before Judge David Wilson at Ipswich Crown Court charged with two counts of sexual activity with a girl under the age of 15 and four of sexual assault of a girl under 13 by touching.

He has denied the six charges.

In the two counts of sexual activity with a child, Taylor is alleged to have touched two girls intimately.

In the sexual assault counts, the defendant is accused of similar offences against a girl under the age of 13 on three occasions. He is alleged to have touched the same girl’s leg in the final count.

Addressing the jury Andrew Thompson, prosecuting, described how the incidents made the girls feel uncomfortable.

“They said it was unpleasant and should not have happened,” he said.

Mr Thompson said the girls delayed making their allegations due to fears.

Mr Thompson told the court that, in one of the sexual activity counts, Taylor gave one of the girl’s alcohol, which made her sick.

He said the girls were being truthful about the allegations as, if they were lying, their evidence would not have been as specific and they could have made the allegations more serious.

With regards to the assault offences, Mr Thompson said the complainant described the touching as being ‘with force, quick and aggressive’ and that it ‘grossed her out’.

Kate Davey, defending, disputed the evidence of the complainants, saying it was ‘all over the place’.

She referenced how originally, on the two counts of sexual activity, the victims said in police interviews it happened in 2021, but in January this year, they changed this to 2020.

Ms Davey said the two girls ‘put their heads together’ and changed the dates of the alleged offences.

“They contradict themselves as well as each other,” she said. “These three teenagers simply cannot be believed.”

Further to this, she said the change of date had made it unfair on the defendant as his efforts had been focused on the original 2021 date before the trial.

With regards to the alcohol, which was concerned in the first count of sexual activity, Ms Davey said it was either another person who gave them the alcohol, or the girls themselves stole it.

On the latter counts of assault, Ms Davey described the alleged victim as ‘unsure to this day’ of whether she was overthinking the matter.

Taylor was later found not guilty of all charges on Friday.