THE father of Grimsby murder victim Claire Wilson has appeared in court charged with sexually abusing four young girls.
Stuart Wilson, 52, of Cleethorpe Road, Grimsby, is charged with one count of rape, one count of attempted rape, 16 counts of indecent assault and one of supplying heroin, between September 1987 and September 2003.
His daughter Claire, 21, was six months pregnant when she was stabbed to death on Sunday, June 7, 2009, as she walked to work at Pizza Hut in Grimsby.
Her killer, Alan McMullan, is serving a life sentence after being convicted of the murder of the mum-to-be in the brutal knife attack – a tragedy which hit the national headlines.
At the time of McMullan's conviction in May 2010, Wilson made a public statement in which he said he would "never forgive" McMullan for his crime, which he said had "shocked the world".
Yesterday, Wilson, who denies all the charges against him, appeared at Grimsby Crown Court.
Prosecuting, Jonathan Sharp told the court it was believed Wilson had abused four girls – who cannot be identified for legal reasons – over a period of years.
It is claimed he continued to abuse one of the women into her adult life.
Mr Sharp told the court that in relation to this woman, she claimed what started off as minor incidents when she was aged just 10 years old, had escalated to rape when she was a teenager.
He added that as a result of the alleged rape, the woman claimed she became pregnant, but miscarried – disposing of the baby's remains in a garden.
She claims he later attempted to rape her on further occasions, but was physically unable to do so.
The woman further alleges that on encountering Wilson as an adult, he took advantage of her then drug addiction, supplying her with heroin in exchange for sex in 2003, after which she had no further contact with him.
He is also accused of committing three acts of indecent assault on another girl when she was aged between seven and 13.
Wilson is also said to have indecently assaulted a third girl – aged between eight to 10 – on two occasions and on one occasion, a fourth girl, aged between five and seven.
The court yesterday watched the first of three video interviews given to the police by the first alleged victim.
The trial is due to continue throughout the week.
