Victor and Zara Marke: Martial arts instructors accused of child sex offences

Two martial arts instructors groomed and sexually abused a child in order to satisfy the man's "sexual urges", a court has heard.

Victor Marke is accused of sexually abusing two children, while his wife Zara Marke is accused of sexually abusing one of them with him.

Mr Marke, 59, is on trial accused of 18 offences while Mrs Marke, 36, is accused of 14.

Both deny all of the offences they are accused of.

Opening the case at Nottingham Crown Court, prosecution barrister Ahmed Hossain said: "Both of these defendants commanded admiration and respect within the martial arts world.

"The prosecution case is that Victor Marke groomed these two separate complainants when they were children, and he used his position of trust and authority to make them feel special so he could satisfy his sexual urges.

"It is the prosecution's case that Zara Marke was part of that process."

The offences are alleged to have taken place between 2002 and 2008, before the couple were married.

A police interview with the first complainant was played to jurors. She was aged 15 when she was allegedly abused by Mr Marke, between 2002 and 2003.

She became tearful in the video as she described Mr Marke kissing her and touching her for the first time.

"I just froze," she said. "I didn't know what to do."

She said Mr Marke was previously married but the marriage broke down because Mr Marke had been having affairs.

These included an affair with Zara, she said, who was a teenager herself at the time.

Mr Marke is charged with four counts of indecently assaulting a child in relation to complainant one.

The complainant said they also had sex several times, but Mr Marke waited until two weeks after her 16th birthday. He is not being prosecuted for this, as this is the legal age of consent.

Mr and Mrs Marke are jointly accused of 14 counts of sexual activity with a child in relation to complainant two, as they allegedly engaged in the sexual activity together. Each type of sexual activity is alleged to have happened on at least six occasions, between 2005 and 2008.

The trial continues.

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