London - A cousin of the serial killer, Frederick West, raped a series of teenaged girls, a jury has been told. Mr William John Hill, a farm worker, raped and indecently assaulted the girls when they visited his home in the quiet Herefordshire village of Much Marcle, Mr Jonathan Gosling, prosecuting, told the jury at the start of the trial at Birmingham Crown Court.
Mr Hill, who was generally known as John, raped the girls in an upstairs bedroom at his home in Much Marcle, or in the back seat of his three-wheeled Robin Reliant car when he took the girls for drives in country lanes, Mr Gosling said.
He also indecently assaulted the girls in a garden shed near the semi-detached property where he lived with his elderly stepparents, Edna and Frederick Hill, the jury was told.
The attacks, involving girls from 12 to 17, happened between 1976 and 1983, Mr Gosling said. None of the girls spoke of the attacks until more than 13 years later, which led to Mr Hill's arrest in June 1996, Mr Gosling told the jury. Mr Hill strenuously denied that any of the alleged incidents had taken place, he said.