A churchgoing former police officer described child-sex allegations levelled against him as “outrageous”.
George Thomson-Smith, 89, from York, is accused of a string of child-sex offences more than 20 years ago when he was in his mid-60s and early 70s.
Mr Thomson-Smith, a grandfather-of-eight, appeared for the seventh day of his trial at Newcastle Crown Court on Tuesday.
The court heard transcripts of interviews by police detectives and a police civilian interrogator attached to the North Yorkshire force in which Mr Thomson-Smith vehemently rebutted the claims made by three girls that he had sexually abused them in separate alleged incidents between 2002 and 2009.
When asked by officers about one girl’s allegations that he would touch her on an intimate part of her body, “sometimes for (up to) two minutes”, Mr Thomson-Smith said the allegation was “outrageous”.
When it was put to him that he had “gripped” the girl on another intimate area, the former Met officer replied: “It did not happen.”
Asked about claims by another, even younger girl that he had subjected her to repeated sexual assaults, he replied: “That is not true.”
When asked if he had ever exposed his private parts to that girl and placed her hand on his genitals, he replied: “No.”
The transcripts of a series of interviews at Fulford Road Police Station in York were read out to the jury by the prosecution and the civilian investigator.
Brewery worker
In them, Mr Thomson-Smith said he had worked as a Met police officer in London and then spent 17 years working for Courage Brewery in Tadcaster after moving from the capital to York.
He initially lived in a flat in York city centre then moved to Askham Bryan with his wife, an ex-teacher.
The couple immersed themselves in parish life by becoming members of St Stephen’s Church in Acomb and St Aidan’s in the same parish. Mr Thomson-Smith used to edit the parish magazine.
Mr Thomson-Smith, now of Hallcroft Lane, Copmanthorpe, is accused of 12 alleged sexual offences against three girls in York including 10 counts of sexual or indecent assault and two counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
Some of these alleged offences are said to have occurred on no less than three or four occasions. He denies all 12 charges.
One allegation is that while sexually assaulting one of the girls, he asked her: “How does this feel?”
Earlier in the trial, the jury were shown a pre-recorded police interview where the girl said that in one instance, Mr Thomson-Smith sexually assaulted her, then told her: “Be quiet and don’t tell anyone”.
She said she felt “horrible, disgusted”, but she didn’t tell anyone at the time.
Mr Thomson-Smith’s barrister Tania Griffiths KC described the former police officer as a “kind and quiet man” and insisted that her churchgoing client was “not guilty” of all charges.
She said that he and his wife were “what sometimes are termed as do-gooders in the community, reaching out to help people in need”.
Prosecutor David Hall said that one of the girls was repeatedly sexually assaulted between 2002 and 2003 when she was barely in her teens.
He alleged that another, younger girl was also sexually assaulted on several occasions around the same period.
He said that a third, even younger girl was also subjected to repeated sexual assaults between 2006 and 2009.
He told the jury that one of the girls came forward to police in 2010, alleging that Mr Thomson-Smith had sexually abused her eight years previously.
Following those disclosures, Mr Thomson-Smith was arrested and brought in for questioning about the girl’s allegations.
He denied the allegations and the Crown Prosecution Service decided to take no further action against him at that time.
However, in November 2021, a second girl came forward to police and alleged that she had been sexually abused by Mr Thomson-Smith and said she was “made to touch him inappropriately”.
In March 2022, a third girl told police that Mr Thomson-Smith had sexually assaulted her on several occasions by touching her on intimate parts of her body.
Following these latter two disclosures, police reopened the case of the girl who was the first to come forward to the authorities 16 years ago. Mr Thomson-Smith was arrested again and denied all allegations.
None of the three complainants, who are now adults, can be named for legal reasons.
The trial continues.
