Accused broke trust and "took advantage of a 14-year-old child"
A MOTHER told a court today of how a man broke her trust in him and had sex with her 14-year old daughter.
Stevie Cunningham told the mother, Mrs Y, that he was giving the schoolgirl a lift home but instead he drove her to his home in rural Caithness and had intercourse with her.
The court heard how Mrs Y became concerned after her daughter didn't appear and her initial search for her took her to 27-year-old Cunningham's then home.
When the father-of-two answered her knock, a jury at Wick heard, they had just had sex and Cunningham had told the girl to hide in a cupboard.
Mrs Y told the court that when he opened the door, Cunningham said that he had driven the girl, termed Miss X for legal reasons, to Wick to visit a friend.
Cunningham denies on indictment having sex with a girl under the age of 16, on February 19, 2015 claiming he didn't know she was underage.
Miss X previously told the jury that that the accused and herself chatted, but she denied saying she was "attractive" and 'hot'.
She said that Cunningham told her she would look 'hot' in a bin bag but denied replying "prove it".
However, Miss X agreed that she undressed inside a bin bag and they had sex. She maintained she didn't tell him she was 17, and added that there was no prior discussion about her age.
Mrs Y told the court yesterday that when she called at Cunningham's house he yawned and gave the impression that he had just woken up.
The witness said she rebuked the accused for dropping a 14-year-old in her track suit and slippers, in Wick and became worried because "things didn't add up" and feared her daughter might have been in a car accident.
Mrs Y was "worried sick" as she drove to Wick to search for her daughter and on the way Cunningham's car 'flashed' past at high speed heading in the same direction, Miss X having been told by him to slide down in the passenger's seat to avoid being spotted.
Mrs Y subsequently located her daughter and took her home. Initially, the girl didn't tell her parents what had happened but then burst into tears and told them everything.
Mrs Y said she had trusted Cunningham, now of 1A Murray Avenue, Wick, with her daughter, particularly when he had first cleared it with her on the phone.
The mother told the jury that she was angry with the accused and went on: "He knew he had done something wrong, otherwise he would not have lied. He could have simply said- " I am sorry. I have done something terrible, but I thought she was 16...but he didn't. I trusted him...I thought I knew him."
Fiscal Fraser Matheson asked Mrs Y: "In your assessment, would Steven Cunningham have had information about how old your daughter was."
Replied Mrs Y."One hundred percent."
She recalled a conversation with Cunningham, a few earlier days earlier, when he had mentioned he had one child with another "on the way" and they had reminisced about how fast time was passing.
Mrs Y said: "I said my daughter was 14 turning 15 and he commented -"Oh, I know, where has all the time gone."
IN evidence, Cunningham insisted that Miss X had told him she was "16 turning 17" and added: "That is God's honest truth."
Cross-examining, fiscal Matheson accused Cunningham of fabricating a particular piece of conversation he had with Miss X, to the effect that she told him she was starting driving lessons, because that would make her 17 and support his claim.
The accused said that, initially, he was to have driven Miss X home but she wanted to prove to him how 'hot' she would be in a bin bag so he took her to his house.
He said: "She was persistent and I stupidly agreed."
Cunningham said that he was going to get a condom but the girl told him it wasn't necessary as she had a contraception implant and showed it to him.
Mr Matheson maintained that the absence of shock when told by Mrs Y that her daughter was 14 was because he already knew she was that age and was being "petrified" about being caught.
The fiscal told Cunningham;"I suggest to you that you have lied throughout your evidence and are not going to take the opportunity to tell the jury the truth, which is that you simply took advantage of a 14-year-old child."
The jury is expected to retire today (Wednesday" to consider their verdict.