Ex-councillor preyed on young girl, jury told

Ron Grahame, 80, was deemed unfit to stand trial at Leeds Crown Court

A former Leeds councillor sexually abused a young girl multiple times after inviting her to his house to do gymnastics, a jury has heard.

Ron Grahame, 80, was charged in 2020 with four sexual offences against the same girl dating back to the early 1980s, which he denied.

However, a judge on Wednesday ruled that Mr Grahame was unfit to stand trial because of the effects of vascular dementia and a head injury.

Instead, a trial of the facts of the case has begun, with a jury asked to decide whether or not the case against him has been proven.

Leeds Crown Court was told that Mr Grahame, who at the time of the alleged offences was known as Ronnie Blower, invited the girl to his home to practice gymnastics on Saturdays.

'Curled up and froze'

It was said that when his then-wife suggested the girl could go to a bedroom to get changed, Mr Grahame insisted she could get changed in the living room in front of him.

In the alleged victim's police interview, shown to the jury, the woman said that Mr Grahame touched her genitals multiple times across several months as she performed handstands.

She later told how, one an occasion when she was staying at the house overnight, she "curled up and froze" as Mr Grahame got into a bed with her and tried to rape her

The jury was told the attack was only stopped by the sound of Mr Grahame's then wife moving downstairs and he fled the room, leaving the girl "crying all night".

A trial of the facts is taking place at Leeds Crown Court

In her interview, the alleged victim said she later told each of her parents separately about what had happened to her, but neither reported it to the police.

She reported the allegations to the police herself in 2020 after seeing a picture of Mr Grahame in an online article and realising he was a councillor.

The court had earlier heard that two recent medical assessments of Mr Grahame had concluded he was not healthy enough to stand trial, because of "poor short term memory and impaired concentration".

Recorder Bryan Cox said that Mr Grahame, of Swardale Green in Leeds, "would not be able to adequately focus on proceedings" or give legal instructions.

He added: "The medical consensus is in all probability this is a consequence of his dementia, aggravated by a head injury."

Mr Grahame, who has moved house since the time of the alleged offences, was a Labour councillor representing the Burmantofts and Richmond Hill ward on Leeds City Council between 2010 and 2022.

Before that he served for the Whinmoor ward between 1982 and 1991.

He was charged with two counts of indecent assault, one count of attempted buggery and one count of attempted rape.

The trial continues.