Rape accused 'knew hidden detail'

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A man accused of taking a child from her bath and raping her described details of the case only the attacker could have known, a court has heard.

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

Witness Amy Brown said Mr Voisey told her graphic details about the attack after hearing she was not aware of it.

Newcastle Crown Court heard how he gave details that had not been made public.

Ms Brown, who is the partner of Mr Voisey's friend Andy Stronach, told Newcastle Crown Court how the defendant made a gesture, indicating the way the assault had taken place.

National publicity

James Goss QC, prosecuting, said this detail of the attack on the six-year-old girl had not been made public.

He said: "How did he know if he wasn't responsible for the offences?"

Ms Brown said Mr Voisey, 35, told her about the girl's abduction in a conversation in January because she had not heard about it despite it receiving national publicity.

She told the court: "Peter visited one night and asked if I had heard about the abduction of the girl from her bath.

"He explained she had been in the bathroom and the bathroom was near the back door.

Phone records

"I asked 'Didn't the child make a noise?' He said someone had put his hand over her mouth so people couldn't hear her make a noise."

Franz Muller QC, defending, said his client was merely repeating something he had been told about the attack.

"What he was telling you was information, he was not suggesting that he had done this," Mr Muller said.

But Ms Brown insisted she remembered the conversation correctly.

Earlier, the jury was shown mobile phone records that were used to plot the defendant's movements.

He told police he was visiting Mr Stronach and another friend in Blyth when the girl was snatched, but the jury heard how his mobile phone was in the North Tyneside area around the time she was abducted.

The victim was found dumped in an alley near her home.

The trial continues.