A FORMER serviceman has denied sexually abusing two girls and a boy when he was a resident at a children's home in Frodsham more than 40 years ago.

David Royle, 60, also pleaded not guilty to three counts of rape against one of the girls during his time at Newton Hall in the 1970s. In total he faces 18 charges.

Jurors over the course of his trial at Chester Crown Court this week were told how he would sneak into the girls' bedroom after lights-out and abuse them in their beds.

He carried out “hundreds” of assaults when he was between 14 and 16 years old. The three victims – who cannot be identified for legal reasons – were said to be between nine and 14 at the time.

One said the abuse would happen “most nights”, and at least three to four times a week for two years.

The alleged victims also told jurors that sexual, physical and psychological abuse by older children and staff members was widespread at the home.

Victims did not speak out, however, due to the fear of repercussions from staff if the National Children's Home organisation (NCH) was “brought into disrepute”.

One of the girls – now an adult – got in touch with the male complainant via Facebook between 2014 and 2016 and discovered Royle had allegedly subjected him to a similar ordeal.

Complaints were made to police and the three alleged victims were interviewed before Royle – a former Royal Navy and RAF serviceman – was charged.

In a video recording of her police interview, played to the court, one victim said: “I thought it was time to draw a line under things.”

Describing the abuse, she added: “At first he just came in to talk to us but it wasn't long after that that he started to abuse us. He would just sneak in and come over to the beds. We'd pretend to be asleep but he just woke us up. He was one of the senior boys.

“It was just horrible and we couldn't do anything about it. I was only 11 but I knew it was wrong.

“There was a lot of rejection going on back then, with parents… we didn't want to be rejected again.”

The court heard the girls would try to barricade the door to stop Royle entering their room but he always succeeded. As punishment he put one of the girls in a hot airing cupboard.

The alleged male victim said he would wake up early and sit in the communal living room to prevent Royle from climbing into his bed with him.

In his police interview, shown to the jury, he said he “dreaded” seeing Royle. “He was a bully,” he said. “He wasn't a nice character.”

Royle, who left the home to join the armed forces at the age of 16, told the alleged victims they would be sent away if they ever told anyone what was happening, and the girls said they kept quiet as they were scared of being scolded.

Matthew Corbett Jones, prosecuting, said: “She [one of the complainants] described being very frightened that she would be blamed or that she would be shouted at.”

In police interviews Royle denied the allegations of sexual abuse, describing them as “imaginative fiction”.

Asked by defence barrister Edward Moss why she never made a complaint to staff about the abuse, the eldest female complainant said: “The NCH is shrouded in religion and punishment and you didn't put [it] into disrepute. This would have put the NCH into disrepute.

“The NCH was an organisation, a Christian Methodist organisation, and there was a lot of abuse going on at the children's home. It wasn't just the staff, it was the [older children] as well.

”No-one ever talked about it. It's only coming out now because people are listening to us and believing us.”

She also told the jury she had asked the Citizens Advice Bureau about pressing charges in the late 1990s but was told the case “wouldn't stand up in court” as they were all minors at the time.

The second female complainant told the court she had cried out on one occasion when she was being raped. Mr Moss asked why no-one had heard her and come to her aid.

“It simply didn't happen, did it?” he suggested.

“It did happen,” the woman replied.

Royle, who now lives at Bracken Court, Harworth, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, denies all 18 allegations of sexual abuse, including indecent assault and rape.

The defence case is expected to start today.

The trial continues.

* NEWTON Hall on Kingsley Road, Frodsham, was opened by the National Children's Home in 1903.

With a motto of 'Need Not Creed', it finally closed in 1985 having seen 4,113 children pass through its doors.

It was established following a gift of £20,000 by Miss Mary Fowler of Liverpool which was used to buy 100 acres of land and two houses – Newton Hall and Springside Villa.

Over the coming years extra houses were built and a further gift of a 75-acre farm eventually allowed more than 300 children to reside at the complex.

By 1933 there were 12 houses accommodating up to 350 children.

In the early 1980s falling numbers of children being placed in the facility led to the closure of some buildings and the home closed for good in August 1985.

The buildings have now been converted to private use.

* Source: Childrenshomes.org.uk