Accused threatened to cook baby, court is told

The High Court in Aberdeen. Duncan Begg: denies crimes against women and children

Duncan Begg is alleged to have carried out a series of sex crimes against women and children in the north-east Highland coastal town of Wick.

He is further alleged to have subjected children to lewd and indecent acts and attempted to rape a girl under the age of four.

The 48-year-old is also claimed to have tied a ligature around a baby’s body then dangled the infant out of a window and threatened to cook him.

Begg, of Portree, Skye, went on trial at the High Court in Aberdeen facing 43 charges earlier this week.

He denies all offences and has lodged a special defence claiming all sexual contact he had with the women was consensual.

Yesterday, one of the alleged victims, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court she was attacked three months after having a baby.

She said she was raped in the hall of her home after Begg, a stranger, rang her buzzer and asked if she had a lighter.

She said he walked in uninvited and later attacked her three-month-old baby. Defence lawyer Brian McConnachie asked: “Tell us about the cooker.”

She said: “He showed me that he could put the ring on and held my son not far from the ring to burn his head.

“He was showing how the bairn was starting to go red on his arm. It was starting to burn, it looked like there was sunburn on the bairn’s arm. It was all red so I had to put Sudacream on the poor bairn.”

The court heard the 43-year-old mother later told police Begg threatened to put the infant in the oven and joked about how long he would take to cook.

The woman claimed Begg also used a curtain tie-back when he allegedly assaulted her baby.

She told the court: “He put it round my son’s neck and dangled him about out the window.”

She said she was not able to leave her house because Begg had taken the house key and the handles off her window.

She told the jury that Begg had eventually fallen asleep and she tried to use forks and knives to get out of the window.

Mr McConnachie accused the woman of being a “wicked, deceitful liar”. He added: “And every time you tell the story you add arms and legs to it.”

She replied: “I’m not telling lies. I’ve been brought up proper – to tell the truth.”

The alleged victim had to take a break from giving evidence on two occasions, breaking down at one point claiming she was suffering from flashbacks. Judge Morris halted the trial in the afternoon as the woman appeared unwell. He informed the jury she needed to be checked over to ensure she was fit to continue giving evidence and postponed the case until today.

Begg faces nine charges of rape against three women and ten charges of indecent assault.

Seven further charges relate to alleged child assaults. He is further claimed to have used lewd and libidinous practices and behaviour towards children.

The offences are claimed to have happened over a 26-year period between January 1984 and January 2010 in Wick

Begg denies all charges. The trial continues.