Liverpool karate champion 'shocked' by sex assault claims - trial

Andy Sherry confirmed there was no teacher in the UK more highly qualified in karate

A renowned British karate champion who is accused of propositioning and sexually assaulting young students said he was "shocked" by the allegations.

Andy Sherry, 80, was chairman and chief instructor for the Karate Union of Great Britain for almost 50 years.

He told Liverpool Crown Court he believed there was a conspiracy against him.

Mr Sherry denies two counts of indecency with a child under the age of 14 and four counts of sexual assault.

The sensei founded the Red Triangle Karate Club in Everton.

He told the jury that, at the time of the allegations, he could earn £400 a day going to clubs across the UK for training or grading events.

He confirmed that no karate coaches were more highly qualified than him in the UK.

Tania Griffiths KC, defending, asked if there was "jealousy" about the number of clubs he was invited to.

He said: "I'm sure there is."

Gave massages

The court heard a new karate club had been set up, about a mile away from the Red Triangle, after the allegations about him came to light.

Mr Sherry said membership at the Red Triangle began to fall "virtually the same day" the allegations were made.

He said: "I'm just shocked.

"A group of them organised this together and it happened from that day on."

The teacher denied grooming one teenager, who claimed he had asked him for special favours and wrestled with him in the mid-1980s.

He said: "I don't know what to say because this never happened. I never said anything like that to him."

He said the boy had been to his home "maybe half a dozen times" but there was always other people present, and he denied having or showing him pornographic material.

Mr Sherry admitted giving massages to another student, who was 18 at the time, during one-to-one training, but said they were not given in a sexual way.

He said the massages, given in 2011 or 2012, were because the teenager had a bad back and denied that he touched his buttocks during them.

Judge David Swinnerton directed the jury to find Sherry not guilty of two counts of indecency with a child under the age of 14, because they could not exclude the possibility the complainant was over 13 at the time.

He was charged with a replacement offence of indecent assault on a child under 16.

Mr Sherry, of Mann Island, Liverpool, also entered a not guilty plea to this charge.

The trial continues.