Accused 'filmed' sex assaults

The girl gave evidence via a video link

An 11-year-old girl has described how she thought a man who sexually abused her may also have recorded the acts on a video camera.

The girl was giving evidence at the High Court in Edinburgh in the trial of six men accused of abusing the girl and a young boy.

The men - William Wilson, 38, from Newmilns; Peter Cairns, 40, from Ochiltree; David Wilson, 36, and Garry Wales, 37, both from Galston; Timothy Harris, 39, c/o a law firm in Ayr; and Ronald McCarlie, 45, from Gatehouse-of-Fleet - are accused of abusing the children at houses in Ayrshire over a period up to August 1998.

All six have denied the charges.

He would get very angry and said to me, or shouted at me that if I ever told anyone he would kill my mum

Child witness

The girl gave evidence via a video link and the judge and lawyers in the case took off their wigs and gowns to create a more informal atmosphere.

The girl described how she was ordered into the bedroom of an Ayrshire house where William Wilson told her to strip.

She said that Mr Wilson made her take her clothes off and touch his genitals.

She said: "I think I was recorded with a video camera."

She told the court that one of the wardrobe doors would be "a bit open" and that there was a black object inside with a red light on.

The jury heard that, after leaving the bedroom, Mr Wilson would call her back saying: "Come through for your reward."

The girl said: "That was either a slap on the leg or on the arm."

She said she thought she was about six years old at the time and that Mr Wilson ignored her pleas for him to stop and silenced her with threats.

Children as young as three

"He sometimes said they were good things and they happened to every child.

"Other times he would get very angry and said to me, or shouted at me that if I ever told anyone he would kill my mum."

William Wilson denies four charges of serious sexual assault on the girl and six on the young boy.

It is alleged that the youngsters were as young as three when he abused them.

The other five men deny charges of indecent assault on both the boy and the girl in the presence of each other and others.

The trial before Lord MacLean continues