A DEFENCE lawyer has accused 12 women of “joining the bandwagon” in a bid to jail a former teacher from Petersfield being tried for more than 100 sexual offences.
Timothy Bleach has been accused of sexually abusing a dozen girls, aged between eight to 11, who he taught in Weyford Junior School, Bordon, during an eight-year period in the 1970s.
The 76-year-old of Hazel Walk, Broadway Park, off The Causeway, also lived at Rogate and Headley during the time the alleged offences took place.
He has pleaded not guilty to 62 charges.
Jeremy Wright, for Mr Bleach, claimed to a jury at Portsmouth Crown Court that the incidents were either fabricated, committed by other people or “didn’t happen”.
He has also accused Bleach’s alleged victims of “joining the bandwagon” by “forming a committee” to fight the teacher, a man of good character, he added.
He also pointed out that the victims’ accounts were often similar to the point of being almost identical, and could only have been born from collusion.
Those claims were rejected yesterday (Tuesday) by Kerry Maylin, prosecuting, who began her summary by warning the jury that “lightning doesn’t strike 13 times in the same place.”
She also suggested that some of the alleged victims didn’t want to report Mr Bleach because they showed a desire to please their teacher, to do well and show him respect.
She added: “Have these women got their heads together?
“Did they harbour these rumours for years and jump on the bandwagon?
“If you consider that with any care for more than a millisecond, you will see this isn’t a case of collusion. They can’t all be mistaken.”
The trial, scheduled to run for six weeks, continues