FIVE pensioners have gone on trial accused of sexually abusing young boys in public toilets in a park throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

The allegations against the men emerged following publicity surrounding the case of Hartlepool undertaker Gerald Martin, a jury heard.

Robert Black, Geoffrey Hillier, Alan Edmenson, Joseph Brown, and Peter Watts are said to have used the loos as a regular meeting point.

Teesside Crown Court heard how one accuser named two of the suspects, and put officers in touch with another alleged victim from the time.

The second complainant was then able to identify all five Hartlepool men in the dock, prosecutor Peter Makepeace, QC, said.

Outlining the case against Mr Black, Mr Makepeace said: “He was identified by the victim as a regular at the toilets.

"There was another occasion when the victim had just left the library in Hartlepool. He was abused in a back lane."

When Black was arrested in 2015, he was wearing women’s knickers, and had a collection of female underwear and child pornography.

He had also written erotic stories about the abuse of boys by their fathers - which he told police was "just wishful thinking".

The court heard that Mr Hillier met one of his victims by chance, inviting him home for a drink, where he was shown homosexual pornography before being abused.

Police found indecent images of children in Mr Hillier’s house, including images purporting to show boys being raped by their fathers.

Officers also found a taped conversation with a Canadian man, in which Mr Hillier is said to have boasted of having sex with a boy, and he said lads in school uniform turned him on.

Mr Edmenson is alleged to have been another regular at the Burn Valley toilets close to Hartlepool town centre where he is said to have abused a boy on one occasion.

The prosecution says Mr Brown forced a toilet cubicle door to abuse a youngster, who was hiding from him.

Mr Watts is alleged to have sexually abused two boys in the toilets, one of whom told police he enjoyed what had been done to him.

Mr Black, 71, of Derwent Grange, denies five charges of indecent assault, and one serious sexual offence, all between 1975 and 1980. Mr Hillier, 72, of Haswell Avenue, denies two charges of indecent assault, and two serious sexual offences, all between 1980 and 1989.

Mr Edmenson, 66, of Ibrox Grove, denies one charge of indecent assault between 1979 and 1981.

Mr Brown, 81, of Front Street, Hart, denies one charge of indecent assault between 1981 and 1989.

Mr Watts, 72, of Oxford Road, denies five charges of indecent assault between 1976 and 1978.

  • The case is proceeding.