A MAN accused of sexual activity with girls shared alcohol with them, a jury was told.

Frank Maurice Cooper, aged 35, is on trial at Dorchester Crown Court and denies six counts of sexual activity with a child.

On day three of the trial, a teenage witness was cross-examined about what she saw on the night of September 8 last year, when the alleged incidents took place.

She said that Cooper had been with the group of friends in the Borough Gardens in the afternoon and had joined them in the play area off Maiden Castle Road where they had the intention of camping.

She said that Cooper had brought a quantity of alcohol, bought more later and drank some himself whilst giving some to the group.

The witness said that she did not see Cooper carry out the first alleged count of sexual activity with a child, but that the victim told her about it. She said she later saw Cooper ‘push himself’ on top of the victim in a ‘forceful’ move.

She said: “It wasn’t violent but it was made to put her on her back.”

When questioned by defence counsel Tim Shorter about why she didn’t push Cooper off the alleged victim, the girl said: “We didn’t do anything just in case he turned violent and attacked one of us.”

The girl told the court that she had been the one to call the police as Cooper’s behaviour gave her concern, but waited until she had spoken to the alleged victim to make sure what she had seen was correct.

She added: “I wanted to clarify it with her. I wanted to make sure what I had seen was proper.”

The trial continues.