Lady Lavinia Nourse: Accuser of ex-judge's widow 'carried shame'

A man who alleges the widow of a Court of Appeal judge sexually abused him when he was a young boy in the 1980s told a court he "carried the shame."

Lady Lavinia Nourse, 77, of Newmarket in Suffolk, was married to Sir Martin Nourse, who died in 2017, aged 85.

She denies 17 counts of sexually abusing a boy under the age of 12, all related to the the same complainant.

Now adult, he told a trial in Peterborough he "realised the shame... wasn't mine to bear".

Lady Nourse has gone on trial at the city's Nightingale court, in the Knight's Chamber at Peterborough Cathedral.

The charges are five counts of indecently assaulting a boy and 12 counts of indecency with a child.

Jennifer Knight QC, prosecuting, earlier told the trial that the boy "tried to bury away the memories" of alleged abuse but that, years later, after he got married and had children, he "became increasingly troubled by his recollection".

Ms Knight asked the man what motivated him to tell friends about the alleged abuse, and in evidence he said he "carried the shame throughout my childhood" and has since had therapy.

"I realised the shame I carried for this wasn't mine to bear," he said.

"It belonged to that woman sitting over there [the defendant].

"It's her shame."

In a recording played to the court, the complainant said Lady Nourse "screwed me up".

He said that he experienced difficulties in his relationship with his wife, which led him to tell her.

"It's fair to say the root of my problems is I was sexually abused," he said.

The court heard that Lady Nourse previously had a PR company which had organised the premieres of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Starlight Express and Phantom Of The Opera, and organised the Queen's 60th birthday celebrations.

The defendant claims that the alleged incidents of abuse did not happen, Ms Knight said.

The trial continues.

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