A WOMAN who claimed she was sexually abused by the custodian of a historic house and beauty spot near Stourport more than 20 years ago had “lied”, his defending lawyer told a jury.

The woman, who alleges Steven Yates, now aged 60, groomed her from the age of 12, making her think he was her boyfriend while he was employed at Witley Court, in Great Witley, had been “akin to a politician” when giving her answers in court, said Abigail Nixon, defending.

Yates, of the Old Forge, in Tenbury Wells, denies four specimen counts of taking indecent photographs of a child between October 1991, when he started work at the English Heritage property, and April 1995, when he resigned.

He also denies four counts of indecent assault between the same dates.

The prosecution has alleged that Yates took indecent pictures of her on a Polaroid camera, which printed instantly.

The assaults are said to have taken place at the back of the ticket office.

Yates has elected not to give evidence to the jury - which has been told he has a previous conviction for downloading child pornography from the internet.

But, Miss Nixon told Worcester Crown Court he did not have to prove anything to the jury, which had to rely upon the prosecution proving its case.

She said there were discrepancies between the accounts that the woman was giving now and what she told her best friend about her encounters with Yates when she was a girl.

Miss Nixon added that, when asked in court if she had seen Yates since, she replied “no”.

But then she “backtracked”, saying she had written her “abuser” a love letter and had gone in his car to her boyfriend’s house, where she had sex with him at the age of 16.

“One way or another she is lying, either to the police or to you on oath,” Miss Nixon told the jury.

She added the woman had avoided giving straight answers and was “akin to a politician”.

Judge Robert Juckes QC is due to sum up the case and release the jury to consider its verdict on Monday (August 22).