A MAN told a young girl he was raping: “I want to get rid of him so we can be together” before throwing her brother 30ft off a cliff, a court heard.
Anthony Stocks, 54, is accused of “grooming” a young girl and attacking her behind a garage while confessing his “love” to her.
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Anthony Stocks allegedly threw the boy off a cliff Credit: Hyde News & Pictures
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The boy fell onto the concrete path below Credit: Eddie Mitchell
When confronted by the alleged rape victim’s brother, Stocks threw him off a Brighton cliff onto the concrete path below, they say.
Jurors heard how horrified witnesses heard a “scream” before seeing a “small shape” fall to the ground.
The boy miraculously survived the fall, but was airlifted to hospital with serious injuries.
Prosecutor Zoe Johnson KC said: “It was initially believed that what happened to him was a horrific accident – but investigations revealed a different and much darker picture.”
Oxford Crown Court heard today how the girl informed her brother about the alleged sexual assaults.
A few days before the horror, Stocks told her: “I’m going to push him off a cliff. I want to get rid of him so we can be together.”
On September 24, Stocks arranged a trip to London with the boy to visit Stamford Bridge – home of his beloved Chelsea FC.
Jurors heard how his sister begged his brother not to follow through on Stocks’ alleged threat, but he left anyway.
Stocks, who had boasted to a health worker that he was going to marry the girl, later traveled to Brighton by train with the schoolboy.
Ms Johnson said he then deliberately pushed him off the cliff with the intention of killing him.
She added: “The defendant may have immediately regretted what he had done – but at the time he pushed the victim, it was the culmination of a plan to get the boy out of the way so he couldn’t get involved again.”
Witness Anthony Boulding said the boy appeared to be “having fun” as he and Stocks walked along the grass verge to the top of the cliffs.
But about ten minutes later, he heard a noise before seeing a shape “fall as if thrown” from a height.
He and a friend made their way to the concrete path below the cliff and saw the dead young man.
Stocks did not run and instead joined members of the public who rushed to help, jurors heard.
One onlooker recalled allegedly hearing Stocks say “I told him not to go near the rim” before sitting down to roll a cigarette.
The boy was sedated and airlifted to a hospital in London where he had to be resuscitated before being put into an induced coma.
Due to the “extremely strong impact trauma” he suffered, the boy does not remember the fall itself, the court was told.
The prosecutor added: “The child described the top of the cliff and seeing the beach below. He remembered looking down and seeing how steep it was.
“He thought he stood there for between three and five minutes. He remembered two fence wires in front of him. He could touch them and they came up to waist level and he could see the beach over them. The defendant walked away from him and stood a little behind him.
“He explained to the police ‘I either slipped or they pushed me’. The next thing he remembered was being in hospital.”
Stocks was initially arrested on suspicion of child neglect and causing or permitting serious injury to a child.
He was later arrested again on suspicion of sexual acts with a child under the age of 13 and rape of a child under the age of 13.
Stocks’ attorney read a prepared statement at the beginning of Stocks’ police interview, which said: “I am not sexually attracted to children and I have not attempted or encouraged sexual activity with children.”
The court heard how the girl told police that Stocks “scared” her and did not discuss the alleged sexual assaults with anyone except her younger brother.
Asked why she told her brother, she answered: “So that he would help me”.
Stocks denies sexually assaulting and raping a girl under the age of 13, as well as attempted murder of a boy and cruelty to a child.
The trial continues.
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The boy was airlifted to hospital but survived Credit: Eddie Mitchell
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