Harpist and her lover ‘sexually abused boy in his early teens’

THE MOTHER of a boy allegedly abused by a teacher and his world-renowned harpist girlfriend has said it happened in an era when “you only worried about your daughters”.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she thought Richard Barton-wood, who taught at her son’s school in the Eighties when the boy was in his early teens, was “trustworthy”.

She told a court she allowed her son to go sailing and camping with Mr Barton-wood, now aged 68. She also consented when he accompanied the teacher on visits to see his girlfriend, Danielle Perrett, now aged 59.

Years later, as an adult, her son finally told police Mr Barton-wood had sexually abused him. Earlier in evidence, her son had said he had felt in love with Ms Perrett.

Mr Barton-wood is on trial at Ipswich Crown Court alongside his former partner Ms Perrett, a harpist who has played for the Queen and several prime ministers.

They were accused of sexually abusing the boy in his early teens. They deny the charges.

Stephen Rose, for Mr Barton-wood, asked the mother of the alleged victim about the day her son told her of the allegations he made to police. Mr Rose said that in her witness statement to police, the woman said her son wanted to tell her something and “looked really worried”.

The woman agreed and told the court: “[My son] then told me that he had been raped by Richard. He didn’t go into details.”

Mr Rose suggested the woman had been happy with Mr Barton-wood and trusted him. But she told the court: “Now I know how naive I was, how stupid I was, and how you can’t trust people. I never had any thoughts along those lines before. In the Eighties, you worried about your daughters. You never heard anything about boys. If that was any one of my daughters that would have been a different story.”

The woman agreed with Sallie Bennett-jenkins, for Ms Perrett, that she had described the harpist to police as “pleasant and quiet”. Ms Perrett, of Alpheton, Suffolk, denies eight counts of indecently assaulting a boy.

Mr Barton-wood, of Wymondham, Norfolk, denies six counts of indecently assaulting a boy, one of attempting indecent assault and one of attempting buggery.

The trial continues.