Bath rape accused is sex offender

The six-year-old girl was found in a back alley

A man accused of snatching a girl aged six from a bath and raping her has a previous indecency conviction, Newcastle Crown Court has heard.

Peter Voisey, of Blyth, Northumberland, denies abduction, rape and sexual assault in Willington Quay, North Tyneside, on 27 December last year.

The jury heard he molested a girl, aged 12, in the changing rooms of a leisure centre in Macclesfield, in July 2001.

He admitted indecent assault and was convicted in September that year.

During nine days of evidence, the Newcastle Crown Court jury has heard how the six-year-old was taken from the bathroom of her flat and driven away by an intruder on 27 December.

She was subjected to two serious sexual assaults before she was dumped naked and shivering in a freezing back alley.

Friends' evidence

Friends of Mr Voisey gave evidence against him on Thursday. They included Keith French, who has known him for more than 30 years.

He said Mr Voisey gave him a lift in Newcastle about two years ago, and they drove past a mother with two children aged about eight and six.

Mr French said: "He wanted to take the children off the street if he had the chance and that he would do something to them."

Franz Muller QC, defending, asked Mr French if his evidence had been influenced by animosity between the two men.

He denied it, but agreed Mr Voisey had often made unpleasant remarks about him.

Former friend and neighbour Clive Rudd told the court Mr Voisey had confessed to "groping" a sleeping woman during a break-in at a property in Blyth .

The defence case has yet to open. The trial continues.