A FUNERAL director who stands accused of 13 historical sex offences against young boys has described being questioned by police about his sex life as “embarrassing and upsetting”.

Gerald Martin, aged 66, of Valley Close, in Hartlepool, who is on trial at Teesside Crown Court, in Middlesbrough, denies the serious charges against five boys aged from eleven to 15, which are said to have occurred between the Seventies and the Nineties.

During Wednesday’s court proceedings, Mr Martin, of Mason and Gerald Martin Funeral Services, in Hartlepool, was asked if he was happy in his marriage to his wife of 37 years, Pauline, whom he met when they were both running respective Boys Brigade clubs in the Seventies.

He replied “absolutely”.

The court heard that, during police interview, Mr Martin had admitted to having homosexual liaisons with men and said that he had never previously discussed his homosexual feelings with his wife.

Mr Martin told officers that, although he had sexual encounters with men before he was married, he never discussed his feelings with anyone until the police investigation began.

He said: “I was frightened of being gay and of being homosexual.

“I wanted to tell my wife but I love her so much, I just didn’t.

“She knows about it now.

“I spoke to my family about three years ago after the police interviewed me.”

He described being questioned by the police about his sex life as “embarrassing and frightening”.

Mr Martin added: “It was annoying and upsetting.

“You have heard of the term where you want the ground to open up and swallow you?

“That’s what I wanted to happen to me.

“I have been accused of being a paedophile, verging on homophobic.

“I have been described as a scrote and other things that really upset me.

“I have been commented on my dress sense which has really upset myself, my wife and my family.”

One of Mr Martin’s alleged victims claims that, when he was a young boy, the defendant would offer him 50p and £1 at public toilets in Hartlepool to carry out sexual acts.

When asked if he had abused any of the alleged complainants, Mr Martin replied “absolutely not” to each claim.

Mr Martin was initially charged in 2013 with abusing a teenage boy .

Following newspaper coverage of the case, other alleged victims came forward and his trial, which continues, started earlier this month.