Former world snooker champion Graeme Dott told a schoolgirl not to tell anyone he was sexually abusing her, a court has heard.
The 49-year-old is accused of lewd, indecent and libidinous behaviour towards two primary school age children. The allegations span between 1993 and 1996 involving a girl, and 2006 to 2010 involving a boy, both in the Glasgow region.
Dott has denied the two charges against him. His trial at the High Court in Glasgow got under way on Tuesday, with the jury hearing evidence from one of Dott’s alleged victims, who spoke from behind a screen.
Witness tells of abuse
The woman, who is now in her 40s, told the court Dott had sexually abused her on multiple separate occasions while she was a child. Asked by prosecutor Lindsey Dalziel why she did not report the alleged abuse while it was happening, the witness responded: “Graeme told me not to.”
She said she was told by Dott that even if she did tell anyone, they “would not believe (her) anyway”. The woman said she eventually told a friend about the alleged abuse some years later.
“When I became a teenager and getting older, the realisation of what had really gone on between us was dawning on me, and I found it really hard to cope with,” she explained. She said even then she had initially been unable to tell anyone about the full scale of the alleged abuse, saying she had been “too ashamed and embarrassed to tell any of the details”.
Presents and games
The court also heard Dott bought her “a couple of toys” as presents, including on one occasion a teddy bear with a love heart on it with a message about love written in it.
Earlier she told the court the alleged abuse started when Dott offered to give her a piggy back, which had involved her climbing on his back and wrapping her arms and legs around the front of his body. After walking a short distance, the witness said they stopped for a “couple of minutes”.
She told the court: “He started to caress my backside with his hands,” with his hands over her clothing. She added: “I remember it was odd to me. I think he said ‘does that feel nice’, or something to that (effect).”
Alleged game and oral sex attempt
The woman alleged that on another occasion Dott approached her and said to her: “We could play a game.” After agreeing, the woman said he told her “it would be a guessing game, and I had to guess what he was doing”. She said she lay down and he pulled her trousers down and lifted her top, and kissed her on the belly.
She told the court he exposed himself to her and then began touching her with different parts of his body, including his penis. She explained: “He would touch me with his hand, and said that’s my hand. Now you know what that feels like. Then he kissed me and I knew what that felt like.” She said the game was that she had to guess what he was doing.
The woman told the court that on another occasion Dott had tried to get her to perform an oral sex act, and when she said no he had forced her head down with his hand. “I wanted to do what he was asking me to do, because I didn’t want to upset him or anything like that,” she said. “I tried to do what he wanted me to do but I was really struggling, I didn’t like it.” She added: “Instantly I retracted and said I didn’t like this, and I started to cry.”
The woman also alleged Dott kissed her on a number of occasions, which she said she found “uncomfortable” as he “liked to use his tongue”.
Defence response
Beginning his cross-examination of the witness, Dott’s lawyer Euan Dow said to her: “Graeme Dott does not accept any of the sexual matters you have described to the ladies and gentlemen of the jury this afternoon.” Mr Dow is due to continue his cross-examination on Wednesday.
The trial, before judge Lord Harrower, continues and is expected to last up to five days.
