A 77-year-old Ipswich man accused of sexually assaulting a schoolgirl 50 years ago has accused the alleged victim of lying about the allegations.

Giving evidence on the fourth day of his trial at Ipswich Crown Court, Robert Locke denied indecently touching the schoolgirl on two occasion in the 1960s and raping her several years later when she was in her twenties.

Asked by his barrister Naomi Perry what he thought of the charges he faced, Locke replied: “Atrocious.”

He told the court that his wife Sylvia was “the most precious person on this earth” and said he would never be unfaithful to her.

Cross-examined by prosecution counsel Christopher Paxton, Locke said he didn’t know why the alleged victim would make up allegations against him.

He said he had bi-polar, which affected his memory, but said he thought he would have remembered if he had sexually assaulted the alleged victim.

Locke, of Swallow Road, Ipswich, has denied two offences of indecently assaulting the alleged victim between 1963 and 1967 and raping her in 1975.

The court has been told the alleged victim, who is now in her sixties, was aged about ten when Locke committed the first indecent assault by allegedly touching her between the legs.

On another occasion when she was about 12 Locke had allegedly got her on the floor and told her he was going to tickle her before allegedly “groping” her breasts.

Nearly a decade later, Locke had allegedly raped her after turning up “out of the blue” at her home in Felixstowe.

“There was no violence but she felt the defendant had some sort of control over her and she played dead and lay on the floor while he got on top of her and had intercourse with her,” said Mr Paxton

Judge David Goodin has told the jury that although Locke was fit to be tried he had some disadvantages and would have an intermediary sitting next to him during the trial to assist him. The trial continues on Monday.