A WOMAN sobbed yesterday as she spoke of being raped and indecently assaulted two decades ago.

The alleged victim said she had been sexually assaulted by Brian Leslie Paylor over an eight-year period.

In a video interview by police, played to a jury at Teesside Crown Court yesterday, she said: "I used to shut my eyes and freeze up. I felt dirty and used to cry myself to sleep.

"He kept saying, 'this is a secret, don't tell anyone else'."

Mr Paylor, 65, of Thorntree Gardens, Middleton St George, near Darlington, is accused of two counts of rape, attempted rape and three indecent assaults. He denies all the charges.

The court heard on one occasion that he had tried to rape her but she managed to kick him away and he apologised.

Dan Cordey, prosecuting, said Mr Paylor had first attacked the woman when she was a nine-year-old and continued to subject her to assaults on a weekly basis for almost a decade.

He said: "She recalls lying there scared, not knowing what to say. He would tell her it was a secret."

He added: "The defence in this case is a denial that anything took place."

The trial continues.