Lady Lavinia Nourse: Ex-judge's widow alleged sex abuse 'cloud cuckoo land'

The widow of a Court of Appeal judge accused of sexual abuse of a boy in the 1980s told police the allegations were "cloud cuckoo land", a court heard.

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 same complainant.

A transcript of a police interview was read to jurors, in which she said the allegations "simply never happened".

Jurors also heard from Dame Mary Archer, who gave evidence as a defence witness and called Lady Nourse "one of my closest friends".

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

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

The court previously heard that the boy "tried to bury away the memories" of alleged abuse but that, years later, after getting married and having children, he "became increasingly troubled by his recollection".

Jurors heard that Lady Nourse was voluntarily interviewed about allegations of historical sexual abuse at Parkside police station in Cambridge in January 2019 with a solicitor present.

In an interview transcript read to jurors, Det Con Mark Beaven asked Lady Nourse: "What account could you give me about that allegation?"

She replied: "It simply never happened."

Lady Nourse denied ever sexually assaulting the boy and denied allowing him to touch her in a sexual or inappropriate way.

She told the officer: "I had depression, mental breakdown, I suffer from quite severe depression."

Det Con Beaven asked if this "incapacitated" her, to which she replied: "Yes, I was receiving therapy."

She said the therapy was not frequent, adding: "It was an aim to get me back on my feet, it got less and less."

Lady Nourse said she was never admitted to hospital but had appointments with the then-head of the psychiatric department at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.

She said he allowed her to use a rear entrance to the hospital so she did not have to come through the main building "to help me to keep my dignity".

Lady Nourse told the detective she was "pretty shocked" when she heard about the allegations.

"To me this is a complete fantasy," she said. "I don't know what he's talking about."

Later in the interview, she said: "I'm finding this very difficult.

"It really is cloud cuckoo land."

Dame Mary was introduced to jurors as the wife of Lord Jeffrey Archer, chair of the Science Museum and president of Addenbrooke's Charitable Trust in Cambridge.

She said she and Lady Nourse first met in 1980 when they were both living in Grantchester, near Cambridge, and told jurors she and the defendant were also "both completely cat mad".

Asked to describe Lady Nourse's character, Dame Mary said: "Kind-hearted, generous.

"If I say house-proud that's not what I mean to say, but her two houses that I knew were always beautifully done."

She said she recalled a time "in the early 80s when she didn't seem so well", adding that she did not know the reason for this.

"I leapt to the conclusion that she must have had a miscarriage or something," she said.

The court has previously heard that Lady Nourse 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 trial continues.

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