Jury to retire later today in child sex abuse trial

Friday 28 July 2017

The jury is due to retire later today in the trial of a 51-year-old man accused of 11 counts of sexual offences involving children.

Martin James Jegou – formerly known as Martin James Ridgway Richardson – denies all the charges.

Mr Jegou changed his name by deed poll after his arrest in January 2016.

The trial, which lasted all week, has heard testimony from a total of 14 witnesses, including the two alleged victims.

The first alleged victim told the Royal Court that she was "shocked and scared" when the abuse she says she faced as a child first started. Although the alleged offences are said to have taken place many years ago, the complainant only recently reported them to the police in 2015.

The second alleged victim also took to the stand, saying that she was “too scared to say anything” in case she wasn’t believed. Reportedly, this witness did not come forward with any allegations until the police approached her when the investigation into Mr Jegou was launched. 

In his closing speech to the jury, Crown Advocate Conrad Yates applauded the two alleged victims for testifying in front of the Court, something he said “no person would go through unless they were in earnest to see justice done.”

He added that the two complainants in this case “have shown great courage” and were undeterred by the “daunting sense of occasion” that the Court proceedings posed.

Advocate Yates also made a point of referring to the defendant by his former name, Martin Richardson, “not the Jegou name that he hides behind now.” 

Closing the case for the defence, Advocate Michael Haines urged the jury that the defendant “did not commit any of these terrible crimes”. Advocate Haines pointed to the lack of both physical evidence for, or eye witnesses to any of the alleged abuse as grounds for “substantial reasonable doubt” to be raised.

Advocate Haines described one of the complainant’s testimony as “simply not credible” as well as citing witness testimony to the defendant’s good character.

The trial continues today with the Deputy Bailiff, presiding as judge, summing up and giving directions to the jury before they retire to consider their verdict.