Losing my virginity to harpist at 14 was brilliant... until her boyfriend climbed into bed too
THE alleged victim of a renowned harpist has told a court that losing his virginity to her at 14 was ‘absolutely brilliant’.
The underage boy had trysts with Danielle Perrett at her flat, in an orchard and in a car as her boyfriend drove them, the trial heard.
Perrett, 59, who has played for the Queen and several prime ministers, is accused of having sex with the witness on multiple occasions in 1984 when he was 14 and she was 26.
Her partner Richard Barton-Wood, 68, who was a supply English teacher at the boy’s school, is said to have abused him repeatedly.
The defendants deny a string of charges, claiming the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, tried to blackmail them.
Describing the first time he had full sex at Perrett’s flat in London, the man said: ‘Brilliant, absolutely brilliant... [I thought] nothing like that would ever happen to me.
‘It was just me and Danielle in that bedroom and she was cuddling me, which I can remember being my first time – a naked lady who was a lot older than myself and I found extremely attractive. She smelled of roses, as she always did, she was very slim, pretty.’
He said he was drifting off to sleep when Barton-Wood came in and got into the bed. ‘He cuddled me and touched [me] which I hated.’
Barton-Wood stopped when he realised he was awake, the alleged victim claimed, and all three slept together naked. Perrett allegedly performed a sex act on the teenager the next day as they showered together, which he said was ‘lovely, amazing’. She also got him to fondle her intimately as the three of them drove to Barton-Wood’s cottage in Debenham, Suffolk, on one occasion, he alleged.
Perrett is also said to have performed a sex act on the boy as he washed her while she sat in a bath. Another encounter allegedly happened in Barton-Wood’s garden as ‘we were picking apples from trees’, the court heard.
The man said he had sex with Perrett at least twice in her flat. He also spoke of his distress months later when Barton-Wood told him Perrett would not see him again. ‘Richard had told me that she had got a new boyfriend and she moved to Italy,’ he told Ipswich Crown Court.
Barton-Wood is said to have abused the boy on camping trips abroad, on his yacht and at his home over the course of a year.
The man claimed the assaults ended when he tied baler twine around his trousers to stop Barton-Wood pulling them down. ‘I woke up with his hand trying to get into my trousers but he couldn’t – I had beaten him,’ he said.
The court heard he got back in touch with the teacher in 2001 because he ‘wanted answers’.
Perrett was contacted once by the man, it is claimed. ‘It was pleasant. I explained that I wanted to have a word with her. I was also trying to find out where I could find Richard Barton-Wood,’ he said.
‘All my life I never had any concerns... [about] what happened between me and Danielle because I was a boy and probably enjoyed it.’
But he added that he contacted police after his daughter turned 14 in 2016 and thought about how ‘I was her age when that happened’.
Perrett, who has a partner and lives in Alpheton, Suffolk, and Barton-Wood, who is married and lives in Wymondham, Norfolk, say they felt they were being blackmailed.
Stephen Rose, defending Barton-Wood, accused the man of making ‘veiled threats’. The alleged victim claimed he was ‘joking around’ when the barrister read one Facebook message which said: ‘I want a new house, I want a lot of land... I need wonga.’
Sallie Bennett-Jenkins, representing Perrett, handed the jury photos of her client’s nipples, which showed they were ‘pale pink’. Her alleged victim has described them as ‘darkish’.
Miss Bennett-Jenkins also questioned the accuser’s claim that Perrett was around 5ft6in tall when he spent time with her, as she is 5ft2in. ‘Has she shrunk?’ she asked.
Perrett denies eight counts of sexual assault. Barton-Wood denies six counts of indecent assault, attempted indecent assault and attempted buggery. The trial continues.
‘I want a new house, I want wonga’