A MAN accused of the historic sexual and physical abuse of children has told a jury the allegations against him are “abhorrent” and not true.

Terence Sturgeon-Clegg, now of Irvine in Ayrshire, is charged with carrying out the offences when he lived in Bicester in the 1970s.

The 62-year-old denies 12 counts of indecent assault, two counts of indecency with a child, three counts of cruelty to a person under 16 years of age and another serious sexual offence.

Our top stories

At Oxford Crown Court defence barrister Nicholas Syfret QC took Sturgeon-Clegg through the allegations of physical abuse.

These included hitting children with a belt, twisting their limbs until they said “submit” and using string attached to a door handle to pull out a healthy tooth.

The defendant denied the allegations.

He said he had experienced violence himself as a child and so “there was no way I was going to be the same”.

Mr Syfret said he was also alleged to have forced children to handle chips straight out of a deep-fat fryer.

To this Sturgeon-Clegg replied: “No I did not. I think that is the most horrible thing to be accused of. The sheer effect of doing something like that to a child’s skin would be to scar them for life.”

Mr Syfret said he had also been accused of “the most appalling sexual acts” committed with other men against a young boy.

His client said such sexual abuse was “abhorrent” to him.

He added: “I would not have anything to do with such behaviour.”

The trial continues.

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.