‘I didn’t rape girl, foursome was a bit of tomfoolery’
AMAN is on trial accused of raping three teenage girls after his wife allegedly helped groom them with alcohol and cigarettes.
Peter and Avril Griffiths deny all the charges against them of rape, indecent assault, and taking indecent photographs of children.
The trial at Cardiff Crown Court has been told the pair “repeatedly sexually abused three young girls” between the 1970s and 1990s.
Prosecutor Caroline Rees QC told the court the couple took one of the girls “dogging” and would “have sex with her in the back of a van while others looked on”.
The court has also heard that one of the girls was taken on a boat in the Bristol Channel, where she was raped by Peter Griffiths, and that Avril Griffiths also allegedly sexually assaulted the girl on the boat.
The girl later told police she had been “ripped apart physically” after suffering injuries.
Giving evidence in his defence from the witness box yesterday, Peter Griffiths denied rape and sexual assault and described “a foursome” with one of the girls as “tomfoolery”. He said he had been “messing about”.
He also denied that there were “sex parties” on his boat, which the court has previously heard he used to take customers, including police officers, on fishing trips.
He was asked about the allegation from one of the complainants that he sexually abused her in a car after saying: “You’re old enough now.”
His barrister, David Etherington QC, asked: “She says there was an occasion when you were in the car and you touched her over her knickers. Did anything like that ever happen?”
The defendant, who had a Mini at the time, replied: “Never.”
Asked if he may have forgotten the alleged incident, he replied: “I certainly would have remembered if that had occurred.”
Mr Etherington asked: “Was there ever an occasion when you took photographs of her when she had removed items of clothing?”
Peter Griffiths accepted there was and told the court he and his wife were present, along with the complainant and another man.
Questioned about the image, he said he was standing with his wife on one side and the complainant on the other “poking my tongue out at the camera”.
He told the court there was “only one” such photograph, and asked why it was taken, he replied: “It was just a bit of tomfoolery.”
The defendant said he did not see the photograph after it was taken until it was shown to him by the police.
Asked how he felt about the photograph now, he replied: “Disgusted.”
Mr Etherington asked: “What has changed?” Peter Griffiths replied: “My whole attitude towards life has changed compared to 20 years ago.”
The defendant accepted he engaged in sexual activity with the complainant once, a couple of days after that photograph was taken.
He told the court there was “a foursome” involving himself, his wife, the complainant and another man.
Questioned about why the foursome took place, he replied: “Tomfoolery.
“Messing about.
“One thing led to another.”
The defendant stated he thought the complainant was 17 or 18, and when asked if she could have been closer to 10, he responded: “No way.”
Mr Etherington asked his client if he ever took the complainant “dogging” in a van, and he said that “never” happened.
The complainant alleged she was sexually abused several times on a boat but Peter Griffiths told the court he had a “good memory” of everything that happened on the boat because that was how he earned his living.
The court heard he sometimes took police officers on fishing trips, which were arranged through the South Wales Police social club.
Peter Griffiths, 65, from Barry Road in Barry, denies eight counts of rape, three counts of indecent assault, and three counts of taking indecent photographs of a child.
Avril Griffiths, 61, from the same address, denies five counts of rape, two counts of indecent assault, and three counts of taking indecent photographs of a child.
The case, presided over by Judge Jeremy Jenkins, is before a jury of four men and eight women.
The trial continues.