Rushden man disclosed before he died that he was 'raped in cupboard' by teacher Robert Gould

Testimony from the man – who was just ten at the time of the alleged abuse – was read in court because he had died before police began investigating.

During his lifetime he had told family members, a friend, multiple doctors and psychiatrists and a solicitor, that he had been repeatedly sexually assaulted by South End Junior School teacher Robert Gould while he was a pupil.

He told them that he had been ‘raped in a storage cupboard’ in Gould’s classroom on several occasions.

The court heard that Gould, of Wellingborough Road, Rushden, had written on school reports that the boy had a ‘vivid imagination’.

Gould is standing trial at Northampton Crown Court charged with 31 offences said to have been committed against 14 separate victims, which he denies.

During the past week the jury has heard from eleven witnesses who say they were abused and yesterday (Wednesday, January 15) they heard from the twelfth, Witness L, who died some years ago.

Although anonymity for sexual abuse victims ends on death, we have taken the decision not to name him to preserve his dignity.

The evidence relating to him was made up of medical notes taken by doctors over the years, testimony from his parents and a friend, as well as the notes of a solicitor with whom he had spoken some time before his death.

The jury was told that Witness L had had a difficult childhood, with strictly-religious parents who didn’t allow him to be friends with anyone who was not a Jehovah’s Witness.

They also heard that he had told doctors he received ‘regular beatings’ with items including a wooden spoon and a riding crop, and said his mother had hit him with a cricket bat.

His brother had died in a car crash, as had his best friend. He had lost his job and his relationship and had become addicted to alcohol and drugs, and eventually became an in-patient on a mental health ward.

Because of his frequent contact with doctors, his allegations against Gould were documented in medical notes over many years.

The court heard that, in 1981, Witness L visited the doctor with his mother because he had abdominal issues that he said were related to people picking on him at school.

In 1995 his best friend died after driving into a tree and, suicidal, Witness L was admitted to Kettering General Hospital’s Addington Ward – then the adult psychiatric ward. Over the years he told doctors he had heard voices and had been known to make false allegations.

He later told a psychiatrist and several other doctors that he had been abused while at school. In 2005 he told a doctor he had been raped as a child.

In 2006 he phoned police and told them that he wanted to disclose abuse. Despite several cancelled visits and calls, a formal statement was never taken.

But he did go to a criminal injuries solicitor in 2010 to begin a claim against the local education authority which he said had allowed Gould to abuse him.

He gave her a full account of what had happened to him while he was Gould’s pupil.

The solicitor’s statement was read in court by prosecutor Claire Howell.

She said: “The abuse took place at break times when he’d pull down the blinds and lock the classroom door.

"Claims were made on his school reports that he had a ‘vivid imagination’

"He remembers hearing that Gould had gone to prison when he was a teenager and it was reported in the ET.

"He said he was known by everyone as Gay Gould.”

The statement also referred to another teacher, who cannot currently be named, at South End Juniors who had been sacked following allegations made about him in the 1980s.

Witness L had also briefly told the mother of a friend what was happening at the time but she had dismissed it as him being ‘fatherly’.

Witness L’s mother also gave evidence in court yesterday. She denied ever hitting her son with a cricket bat but said she may have ‘tapped him with a wooden spoon’ as a disciplinary method.

She recalled that her son had first disclosed the abuse to her in 1996 in their home.

"He found it very hard to talk about,” she said.

"He was very angry about the whole situation.”

She said she remembered school reports where Gould had written that Witness L had a ‘vivid imagination’.

She was asked in court if she thought he did have a vivid imagination.

"No, not really,” she said.

She said her son had engaged in serious self-harm to help him cope with the situation, as it ‘helped him ease the pain.’

She recalled a time in 1997 when he had been triggered by something on the television and had smashed up the kitchen. She said she remembered it specifically because it was the day before her other son had died in a car accident.

Under cross examination the woman was asked if there was riding crop and a wooden spoon placed on the table for Witness L to ‘choose from’ for punishment.

"I don’t recall that,” she said.

"So Witness L wasn’t telling the truth about that?” asked barrister James Gray.

"I don’t recall that at all,” she said.

Witness L’s father was also in court to give evidence. He was asked by Ms Powell about his approach to obedience.

"We’d taught him to be respectful toward anyone older than him, but particularly toward teachers,” he said.

"I was something we asked him to do. We felt it was important.

"His thoughts were that the events (abuse) had taken place because he’d been taught to be obedient and to do whatever the teacher asked him.”

The trial continues