Boy 'had sex' with girl of eight

The girl told Cardiff Crown Court it was 'disgusting'

An 11-year-old boy from south Wales has appeared in court charged with having unlawful sex with an eight-year-old girl.

Prosecuting, Ieuan Morris told a jury at Cardiff Crown Court the boy indecently assaulted the girl in June.

He kept me and in the end he just did it - I just wanted to get out

Alleged assault victim

Neither of the pair can be named because of legal restrictions.

It is alleged intercourse took place several more times and the girl told the court the experience was "disgusting and horrible."

The jury heard the pair were a boyfriend-and-girlfriend couple in a "childish way."

'Disgusting and horrible'

But, on one occasion, when the girl went to retrieve a lost cricket ball from behind a fence, the boy - a school pupil - pounced on her and indecently assaulted her, it was said.

The girl told police in a statement: "He asked me about 12 times. He got me down and I hurt my back.

"He kept begging me and In the end he just did it because I just wanted to get out. It was disgusting and horrible."

The alleged incidents took place in Cardiff

Mr Morris said: "The boy rugby-tackled her and indecently assaulted her. She kept saying: 'No.' But he kept saying: 'Yes.'

The court also heard the girl told police the boy pulled down her knickers and had sex with her on a separate occasion, when they were playing close to their homes in Cardiff.

He told the jury another youngster had seen the accused lying on top of the girl in an enclosed area behind a block of flats in the city.

'Disturbing case'

The prosecutor said it was "a very sad, very disturbing, very worrying case." However, the boy denies having unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 11.

He also denies the charge of indecent assault.

Proceedings at the court were less formal

He claimed they had kissed each other.

The boy's mother sat beside him and held his hand throughout the proceedings, during which he was seated in the back row of the central well of the court instead of in the dock.

The judge, John Griffith Williams QC, as well as the barristers for the prosecution and defence, attended without their wigs to make the hearing less formal.

A defence solicitor was also sat next to the boy to explain, at each stage, the legal proceedings.

The boy denies the charges and the trial continues on Friday, 19 October.