Junior Bryan trial: Teenager's '26 years of emotional torture'

The alleged victim told jurors that she was taken to Junior Bryan’s home in Middlesbrough by an older woman before being left in the hands of the burly defendant.

The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, told Teesside Crown Court that she was left bloodied, battered and bruised after Bryan, who was known as JC and was in his 30s at the time, attacked her.

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Fighting back tears at times, the complainant said the impact of the rape ‘snowballed’ for her and she ended up working as child prostitute for a couple of years.

Jason Pitter QC, representing Bryan, asked the witness whether she had been told the person who was responsible for the attack was called 'JC' and only used the name after she was threatened by two other women.

She said: “No, I was threatened after what I had said; I was threatened because of what I had said."

During a police interview, the woman told officers that Bryan had slapped, punched and strangled her before threatening her with a gun.

Mr Pitter asked: "Did you consent to what happened and then regretted it?" She replied: "No."

He said: "It was your cousin that had given you the name JC, wasn't it?" She said: "No, it was SF (an associate of the defendant)."

He said: "You used his name to make it more believable?" She replied: "No."

Mr Pitter QC asked if she blamed the rape for her later becoming a child prostitute. She replied: "It was a snowball effect, yes."

When asked if she had made the complainant to get compensation, she said: "No, it's 26 years of emotional torture, that is what this is about."

Earlier the court had heard how the woman had come forward in response to a Cleveland Police appeal in connection with the disappearance and murder of Donna Keogh, who went missing in Middlesbrough in April 1998.

The prosecution made it clear to the jury that they were not linking the defendant to the disappearance of the teenager, but it was this one call to police in 2017 that triggered the investigation into this defendant.

The 63-year-old, of Marton Road, Middlesbrough, is facing 32 charges, including multiple alleged rapes, false imprisonment, dealing Class A drugs and living off the earnings of prostitution.

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Jurors heard that the alleged offences against the eight complainants happened in Darlington, Middlesbrough, Leeds and London throughout the 1990s until 2013.

Bryan is accused of forcing a number of young girls into prostitution after getting them addicted to heroin.

The heard how one of the alleged victims was driven along a track near to the town's Blackwell Grange Golf Club, pictured above, on two occasions where the defendant is said to have abused his victim.

The trial continues.