A MAN wept as he told police how he came under the control of an advice centre worker who regularly abused him over the course of a year.

The 33-year-old man outlined to police how he feared Stanley Simpson and just went along with what he told him to do.

A jury at Durham Crown Court viewed his video-taped police interview, after complaints over Mr Simpson's alleged activities with boys and girls were investigated in 2014.

The man told police that, as a 13 and 14-year-old, he was regularly taken to Mr Simpson’s home, at the time in Ouston, near Chester-le-Street, where he was given cigarettes and alcohol.

He said he would often stay over, sharing a bed with Simpson and sometimes another boy.

Both, in evidence, have claimed they were indecently assaulted or raped, under threat of violence by the defendant.

The latest witness told police: “I was terrified for my life. When I look back on it, I knew I was getting abused. Obviously, I knew it wasn’t normal, but I never went to the police.

“I just locked it up in the back of my mind and tried to forget about it.”

But he added that he has since undergone mental health treatment, as an in-patient, taken drugs and binge-drank at times, as a result of what took place.

The 50-year-old defendant, of Peniston Road, Pennywell, Sunderland, denies any of what the witness told police took place.

He denies a total of 34 counts, including six rapes, involving seven alleged victims, five male and two female, over a period of about 20 years up to 2000.

The trial continues.