Ric Pallister: Indecent assault trial of former council leader starts

Ric Pallister was leader of South Somerset District Council for seven years

A former council leader has gone on trial accused of indecently assaulting three girls and a woman.

Ric Pallister, leader of South Somerset District Council between 2011 and 2018, faces 36 charges including indecent assault and gross indecency.

The prosecution said he used his position to "force himself" on his victims and enjoyed taking risks by abusing them near other people.

Mr Pallister, a former officer in the Royal Navy, denies all the charges.

Some of the charges, relating to the years between 1983 and 2004, involved two girls who were under 13 years old.

Prosecution counsel Charles Row told Taunton Crown Court that Mr Pallister, a former Liberal Democrat councillor, worked at RNAS Yeovilton and was very active in the area. He ran political campaigns, organised dinner parties and was involved in a church.

'Highly respected'

The prosecution claimed he enjoyed taking risks by abusing the young girls near other people, including their parents or his wife and children.

On one occasion he is accused of touching a girl whilst his wife was nearby, said Mr Row.

The girls described him being highly respected and that his attention initially made them feel good, but later they tried to avoid him because they were afraid of him, the court heard.

The allegations, which include kissing the girls and more serious sexual touching, came to light when one of the girls, who is now a woman, told her husband and had some counselling.

She was urged to tell the police, which she did.

Mr Pallister denies all the allegations, claiming there was some sexual touching but that it was only ever consensual when one of the claimants was aged over 16.

He denies assaulting the other two girls and claimed he had a "consensual affair" with the woman who accused him of indecently assaulting her.

The case continues.