A haulier has gone on trial accused of indecently assaulting two young girls 40 years ago.
George Duff is accused of abusing the girls, who were both under 13 at the time, at various addresses across the north and north-east.
The pair, who are now adults, were allegedly abused over an eight-year period between June 1971 and December 1979 at a farm near Cromdale, in a car near the farm, in Turriff, and at a house in Dulnain Bridge.
The 65-year-old denies six charges – four against Girl A and two charges relating to Girl B.
At Inverness Sheriff Court yesterday, Girl A broke down in tears as she recalled playing hide and seek with Duff in 1971 when he took her high up in a barn into the hay bales at a farm near Cromdale.
She said he put his hand down her trousers and touched her inappropriately.
“I froze. It seemed like forever. I did not know why he was doing that. It happened several times but not more than four,” she told the jury.
On another occasion, around a year later, she said she was getting driving lessons from Duff and he similarly indecently assaulted her.
“I slammed on the brakes and he nearly went through the windscreens. I got up, threw the car keys into the woods and walked away.
“Then when we were at a wedding in Turriff in 1977, I went for a drive and he got into the car at traffic lights. He crushed up against me with his body and was pawing me. I shouted to stop the car and got out.”
She said there had been another incident at a house where she was staying, where Duff, of Milton Farm House, Dulnain Bridge, tried to pull her into a bed and have sex with him.
“I warned him to let go or he would get sore teeth,” the woman went on.
Under cross examination by defence lawyer Alison Foggo, Girl A admitted she had met Duff on several social occasions throughout her adult life and sometimes shared car journeys or a cup of coffee with him.
But she was unable to give a clear explanation why it took almost 45 years to make her accusations known, and denied she was telling lies.
Girl B also gave evidence and told how she was indecently assaulted by Duff in the barn during a game of hide and seek and again during a driving lesson.
The trial continues.
