Pembrokeshire headteacher tells Swansea crown court prosecution is a "total tragedy" (From Western Telegraph)

Pembrokeshire headteacher tells Swansea crown court prosecution is a "total tragedy"

10:53am Wednesday 20th May 2009

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The headteacher of a Pembrokeshire primary school accused of sexually assaulting young girls told a jury yesterday (Tuesday) of the "complete devastation" brought about by his prosecution.

David Bryan Thorley, aged 56, told Swansea crown court the allegations were "a total tragedy" for him personally.

"A tragedy, that's an excellent word," he said. "It's broken our hearts."

Thorley has denied 11 charges of sexually assaulting five girls.

Thorley was being cross examined by Huw Rees, for the prosecution.

Asked why two girls had made allegations about him after a trip to a swimming pool, he said he believed that "malign influences" had been involved.

He said there had been "a devastating sequence of events that resulted from press publicity about my arrest".

He agreed he could find no reason why the two girls had told lies about him, or why the other three girls had also made up stories about him.

Mr Rees accused Thorley of "engineering" a situation where he could apply talcum powder to the private parts of the two girls.

Thorley said it was totally untrue and he had taken them swimming because they had asked him to.

"Are you telling a pack of lies?," asked Mr Rees. "No," he replied. "I'm standing here and telling you the truth."

He said the mother of the two girls had been wrong when she told the jury that she found it necessary to tell Thorley there was no need to "dress and undress them because they could do it themselves."

"I never did anything to make them feel uncomfortable," he added.

Thorley, of Bryn Heulog, Heol Penlanffos, Carmarthen, denies all the charges against him.

The prosecution maintain that Thorley had "an unhealthy interest in young girls".

The trial continues.

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