Woman denies allegations of cruelty to children in Oxfordshire

The jury heard the children were hit and exposed to "rat-like creatures"

A 71-year-old woman has told a court allegations she abused children in the mid-1970s were "not true".

Elsie Wheddon faces 13 counts of child cruelty, including claims she hit them and pushed them under water in the bath.

Prosecutors claim the defendant and her late husband made the children's lives an "unforgettable ordeal" when they moved to their home in Oxfordshire.

Mrs Wheddon is on trial at Oxford Crown Court and denies all charges.

'Slapped her leg'

Prosecutor Matthew Walsh previously told the trial the couple treated the children with "deliberate cruelty".

"What happened to these [children] stayed with them for many, many years," he said.

While giving evidence, Mrs Wheddon was asked about claims she had pushed a child under water in the bath so she could not breathe.

"No, that's not true. I couldn't do anything like that," she told the court.

Mrs Wheddon told jurors she hit one of the children "only once" after she had wet herself.

"I got a bit annoyed and slapped her leg," she said.

The court previously heard evidence that she had used a child "as a mop" to clear up urine on the floor.

When asked about the claim, Mrs Wheddon told the court: "That's not true".

'Wouldn't hurt anyone'

Mrs Wheddon's husband died in 2022 and the court was previously told two of the children claimed they were sexually abused by him on more than two occasions.

Asked if she was aware of any sexual abuse, Mrs Wheddon told the court "no".

She denied claims put to her that she had gone to the home of one of the complainants in the late 1980s and offered her £5,000 to "keep quiet".

"Not true - I didn't know where she lived," she told the court.

Asked her response to the allegations against her, she told jurors: "They're not true - I'm not a cruel person. I wouldn't hurt anyone."

Earlier in the trial, the court heard the prosecution claim "rat-like creatures would be put on them and allowed to crawl on them and bite them".

During cross-examination, she denied the allegation.

The trial continues.