Church postmaster tells jury: 'I'm a naturist'

3:53pm Wednesday 30th April 2008

A POSTMASTER accused of sex offences against a child and a pregnant woman told a jury he and his wife were naturists - and most of his customers knew.

Father-of-two and grandfather Alan Holden, 60, of Church, said he had never found anything about naturism to be inappropriate.

He told Burnley Crown Court he and his wife had never made any secret of the fact they were involved with the naturist movement. He added: "We walk around with nothing on. That's just part and parcel of everyday life."

The defendant, described by the prosecution as a sexual predator, is alleged to have groped the pregnant customer when they were alone in his shop and to have groomed the 12-year-old schoolgirl for his own sexual satisfaction.

Holden, who runs the post office in Dill Hall Lane, is said to have given the 12-year-old girl massages, to have talked to her about people walking around naked, to have given her money and sweets and to have said he might take her to Thailand.

The prosecution claim he rubbed the pregnant woman's stomach and then slipped his hands down her underwear. It has not been suggested that he was naked at the time.

The defendant, who lives with his wife in Dill Hall Lane, denies four counts of indecent assault between January 1996 and December 1999 and one count of sexual assault in October 2006.

Giving evidence, Holden claimed both the alleged victims were lying. He alleged that the schoolgirl had been "psychologically disturbed" and said he had been kind to her but insisted he didn't touch her inappropriately at any time.

Asked by his barrister Rosalind Emsley-Smith if he could think of anything that he might have done that the child may have misinterpreted he replied: "No. I have had many, many sleepless nights over this question."

The defendant told the jury that the pregnant woman had "built a fabric of lies around the situation."

Cross examined by Paul Treble, prosecuting, Holden said he had touched the pregnant woman's stomach at her invitation and had done it to maybe three women. He added: "I didn't find anything wrong in it. It was all done in perfect innocence."

(PROCEEDING)

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