A man accused of raping a young girl and pushing her brother off a cliff told her 'I want to get rid of him so we can be together' days before the attack, a court was told today.
Anthony Stocks, 54, is accused of throwing the 10-year-old over the edge of Brighton'
S Capsules Stiftung Warentest Ovingdean cliffs when the boy tried to 'intervene' after his sister revealed the alleged abuse.
Astonishingly, the schoolboy survived the 100ft fall but was airlifted to hospital with serious injuries.
A few nights before the trip, Stocks approached the girl and told her: 'I'm going to push him off a cliff. I want to get rid of him so we can be together', jurors at Oxford Crown Court heard.
Stocks today appeared at court accused of sexual assault and rape against a girl under 13, as well as the attempted murder of the boy and cruelty to a child. He denies all the charges.
Anthony Stocks, pictured outside Oxford Crown Court, is accused of raping a girl and pushing her brother off a cliff
Emergency services vehicles line the road near the cliffs in Brighton after the boy was allegedly pushed off the edge in September 2022
Prosecution counsel Zoe Johnson told the jury: 'The defendant attempted to murder the boy by pushing him off the cliff.
'He may have instantly regretted what he had done - but at the moment he pushed the victim, it was the climax of a plan to get the boy out of the way so he could no longer interfere.'
Read More
Man, 54, 'threw boy, 10, over a 100ft cliff' after the youngster tried to 'stop him from raping his sister', court hears
Today, the jury heard several recorded interviews the girl victim gave to the police over the course of last year.
In those interviews, the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said Stocks would 'follow her' outside her home and take her to the 'back of garages' to kiss her and touch her on her private parts.
During the abuse, Stocks would often tell the child 'I love you,' jurors heard.The girl told police she was 'frightened' by Stocks and spoke to no-one about the alleged sexual assaults she was going through - except her little brother.
Asked why she told her brother, the girl replied: 'So he would help me.' The court heard that Stocks had previously taken the boy to a quarry in Oxfordshire and 'contemplated' pushing the boy off the cliffs there, before changing his mind.
Instead, he planned to take him to the Stamford Bridge football stadium in London, as he knew the boy was a keen Chelsea supporter, before stopping off in Brighton.
The child was allegedly pushed of the edge of Ovingdean cliffs (pictured) in Brighton, East SussexA police officer stands guard at the scene of the incident on the evening of Saturday, September 24, 2022
A few nights before the trip, Stocks allegedly told the girl: 'I'm going to push him off a cliff. I want to get rid of him so we can be together.'
The girl replied: 'Don't do it, or I'll speak up,' before she went on to warn her little brother not to go with Stocks, jurors heard.
The girl later told police: 'I told him not to go to London because I knew that he (Stocks) was going to push him off a cliff.
'But he (the brother) said: "No, I want to go to London".'Days later, on the afternoon of September 24, 2022, Stocks carried out his plan and took the boy to London before travelling to the seaside by train.
Stocks allegedly asked the schoolboy if he wanted to see the seaside and travelled with him to the top of the cliffs at Ovingdean, near Brighton.
There, eye-witness Anthony Boulding, who was walking at the bottom of the cliffs with a friend, heard shouting and saw 'a small shape fall as if thrown from the cliff,' followed by a 'shriek'.
Minutes later, a crowd of passers-by surrounded the severely injured body of the 10-year-old boy, who had fallen 100ft onto the concrete underpass at the bottom of the cliffs.
The schoolboy was airlifted to St George's Hospital in London, resuscitated and placed into a medical coma for several weeks.
Despite falling 100ft to the ground below the child remarkably survived, although he received serious injuries and had to be airlifted to hospital. Pictured: An air ambulance at the scene
White-haired Stocks, who appeared in the dock dressed in a large light grey sweatshirt and brown trousers, kept his head bowed throughout the testimony and did not look at the screen showing the girl's face.
The defendant was remanded in custody because he could not afford to travel to Oxford every day from his address in Goring-on-Thames, the court heard.
He had been on conditional bail until today.The trial continues.Brighton