“HE is the most manipulative, horrible person,” a boy has said about a man accused of abusing him as a child.
Daniel Lewis, of Woodfield, Wantage, is on trial at Oxford Crown Court charged with six counts of wilfully assaulting a child and two counts of wilfully ill-treating a child.
A jury heard this week that the 44-year-old is accused of smothering the boy with pillows, pushing him, digging his knuckles into his legs, slapping him, and gripping him around the neck.
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Lewis is also accused of cutting himself in front of the child.
However, he has denied the offences and is now standing trial.
On Friday (May 10), the boy gave evidence from the dock about the alleged incidents. He described Lewis as ‘the most manipulative, horrible person ever’ and ‘just nasty’.
“He was cruel,” he said. “He was very clever and manipulative and knew what he was doing. He would do anything to provoke to me, he loved it.”
The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he once feared for his life after believing Lewis was going to hit him with a belt.
He said he saw Lewis picking up a pair of trousers and removing a belt.
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“I was so scared,” he told the jury. “I thought I was going to die. He was so unpredictable. I was so scared…I’ve never seen him that angry. I shouldn’t have been treated like that, I was a boy.”
When asked about the alleged incident of Lewis smothering him with a pillow, he said: “I have to make it clear that I enjoyed it [playfighting] sometimes but there were times where it would go too far and I would be very uncomfortable where he smothered me with a pillow or tickled me down there.”
In cross-examination, the boy was asked about Lewis allegedly making him sit in a dark cupboard. The defence barrister said that couldn’t be true as he wouldn’t have fit.
The boy replied: “I did…on numerous occasions. He made me sit on the hoover under the stairs.”
Likewise, he was asked about an alleged incident where he was made to eat soap after swearing.
The defence barrister put to the boy that this was something ‘merely said to encourage him to think about his language’.
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However, the boy replied: “No, I definitely remember taking a bite out of soap on one occasion. He was constantly provoking me.”
When asked if the boy was simply ‘attention seeking’, he refuted the statement.
The trial continues.
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