A creepy centenarian earned the dubious distinction this week of being the oldest defendant ever to face a criminal proceeding in a British court, according to reports.
On Monday, 101-year-old accused perv Ralph Clarke hobbled into Birmingham crown court in England’s West Midlands region to face 17 charges of sexual misconduct against two girls and a boy from 1974 to 1983.
Clarke had to lean on his walking stick to sit down on a bench in the back of the courtroom during the opening day of his trial, the Guardian reported.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, including indecent assault, offenses of indecency with a child and two attempted serious sexual offenses.
Prosecutor Miranda Moore told the jury that two of Clarke’s accusers filed complaints against him at a police station last August.
“What they were to tell the police was a history of a catalogue of serious sexual abuse,” Moore said, according to the Guardian.
“All three victims talk about being in a garden shed or workshop. Probably today you would call it a man shed or a man cave,” Moore told the jury of six men and six women.
Clarke made “limited admission” when questioned by police last December, Moore told the court.
“The defendant was interviewed by the police in this case. He agreed some of the things you are going to hear about did in fact happen. His first words were: ‘Who has complained?’” Moore said.
Moore described Clarke as the favorite handyman for locals in the Birmingham suburb of Erdington, where the old man lived.
The prosecutor noted that Clarke’s age did not preclude him from being charged “as long as the trial is fair and the evidence is clear.”
Justice Richard Bond warned the jury there would be times during the trial when Clarke would have to abruptly leave for personal reasons.
“There will be occasions during the trial when the defendant will speak, possibly quite loudly, to the intermediary, who is likely to speak quite loudly back to him. The reason for this is that Mr. Clarke, not surprisingly at the age of 101, is hard of hearing,” the judge said.
“I invite — in fact, I direct you, to ignore any such communications between Mr Clarke and the intermediary, or with his barrister. The reason for that is that those communications are normally private, but you are bound to hear them in this case, for obvious reasons,” Bond added.
Bond also said the court would only hear evidence in the case between 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. during the two-week trial because of Clarke’s health issues.