A BELFAST man on trial for sexually abusing three young girls told Belfast Crown Court yesterday that he had spent 14 weeks in hospital after being beaten by paramilitaries.
The 40 year old strenuously denied abusing the children and told the jury the first he knew of the allegations was when he was summoned to a flat in the New Lodge area, questioned and threatened.
The defendant, who cannot bet named to protect the identity of the girls, denies seven charges of indecent assault allegedly committed between May and September 1994 on the girls, including two sisters.
Yesterday he told the jury that on this first occasion he was released, but the next day was told to leave north Belfast. He returned home in December 1994 because his mother was ill, but his car was burned outside the house.
The following day he was abducted from a pub in the area. "Hooded men came in and hit me over the head and then took me away in a car. A hood was put over my head. I was attacked and I can't remember anything else until I woke up in intensive care on Christmas Eve," he told the court.
The defendant said he could find "no reason whatsoever" for the allegations. Final submissions to the jury will be made today, and a verdict is expected later.