DOMINIC DEWICK, from Haverfordwest, faces counts of sexually abusing two children. The trial began at Swansea Crown Court on Monday this week.

The first witness sworn in after the prosecution opened their case said that she endured eight years of sexual abuse as a child, and told the court how her innocence prevented her from realising his actions were wrong.

“I was seven years old when he began fondling me,” she told the jury.

“And it went on for eight years. It was only as I got older that I realised what he was doing wasn’t right and I tried to think of ways to make him stop.”

Dewick, 44, of Harrier Road, Haverfordwest, faces a total of 22 charges of sexual assault on a child, gross indecency to a child and assault by penetration on a child under 13. The charges are alleged to have been committed on the first witness between 1993 and 2002, and on Victim B between 2013 and 2017.

On Monday, she told the court that the offences against her began when she was seven years old.

The first incident involved Dewick removing her clothing before being assaulted.

“After that he would fondle my breasts and he did this for around eight years,” recalled Victim A.

Victim A said the assaults came to an end when she was 15.

“I was walking home from school one day and Dominic suggested we walked together,” she said.

“I was carrying a bag and a coat wrapped round my arm, and a folder in front of my chest. And then Dominic started taking the items away from me so he could carry them himself and had access to my breasts.

On day two of the trial this week, the second alleged victim described how he began abusing her when she was just nine years old.

“He started giving me sweets and chocolates as part of the grooming process, so that I would feel better with him, and like him,” she said.

“I was quite happy to receive the gifts but he also told me that my friends didn’t care about me. He also called me a b**ch once for making too much noise when I took some ice-cream out of the fridge. And that made me feel bad.”

Giving evidence to the court behind a screen she said the sexual assaults stemmed back to when the defendant began giving her massages, which then led to molestation.

The witness was asked by defence counsel James Hartson, KC, whether any of the alleged incidents stand out in her memory.

“Nothing stands out, per se,” she replied. “It’s just years and years’ worth that have made me terribly ill, depressed suicidal and extremely bad mentally.”

During the third day of his trial, Dewick vehemently denied all accusations and expressed feeling “dismayed and sick” when confronted by the police.

“I’d never do anything like that,” Dewick asserted with apparent shock as he addressed the court. “I was quite dismayed to hear this, and it was sick.”

The prosecution presented allegations that Dewick sexually assaulted Victim A repeatedly between 1993 and 2002 when she was only five to fifteen years old. Additionally, Victim 2 accused Dewick of multiple sexual assaults between 2013 and 2017.

The defence counsel, Nicola Powell KC, raised questions about the validity of the allegations, particularly regarding Victim A’s age when the alleged abuse began. Powell questioned whether a five-year-old child could fully comprehend and make such grave accusations.

Dewick maintained his innocence and described Victim A as ‘buggy,’ claiming she first accused him of rape when he was 13 and she was merely five years old. According to Dewick, she made a similar accusation when he was 16 and she was eight years old. However, he adamantly refuted the veracity of these claims, stating, “Not one accusation that was made by her was true.”

During the cross-examination, Powell confronted Dewick about his conduct during the initial police interview in 2022. The officers claimed he displayed a lack of respect, using terms like ‘sweetheart,’ and even chuckled when asked serious questions. Dewick explained that his chuckling was merely a “nervous laugh” due to the absurdity of the allegations levelled against him.

But the trial took an unexpected turn when the Crown brought up an incident from 2021 involving a third child who accused Dewick of inappropriate behaviour. The child claimed Dewick asked her for a “little strokey-strokey” massage. Nonetheless, no further legal action was taken regarding this accusation.

The Crown questioned the timing of the third child’s allegation, which coincided with the ages of the other victims when they were assaulted. Dewick, however, dismissed any sexual intent behind his actions, attributing the request for a back massage to his long-standing back pain.

The defence probed Dewick further regarding his medical evidence for the back pain, to which he replied that he had never visited a doctor for the issue.

THURSDAY AT COURT

Swansea Crown Court witnessed an intense third day of trial as Dominic Dewick expressed feeling “dismayed and sick” when confronted by the police with the allegations.

During the trial, Dewick vehemently denied the accusations, exclaiming, “I’d never do anything like that.” He recounted his reaction to the charges, stating, “I was quite dismayed to hear this, and it was sick.”

In a startling revelation, Dewick described the first victim, who was aged five at the time, as having accused him of rape when he was just 13 years old. According to Dewick, the same accusation resurfaced when he turned 16 and she was then eight years old.

Challenged during cross-examination by defence counsel Nicola Powell KC, Dewick’s explanation for the accusations came under scrutiny. Powell questioned whether a five-year-old could fully comprehend the gravity of such allegations. Additionally, she brought attention to Dewick’s behaviour during his initial police interview in 2022, where he was reported to have chuckled and shown a lack of respect towards the officers involved.

Responding to the accusations of chuckling, Dewick asserted, “It was an anxious laugh, a nervous laugh because it was so ridiculous to hear this story about me. I thought, ‘This has got to be a joke.’ It was laughable.”

The Crown later revealed that in 2021, a third child, aged nine, claimed that Dewick had asked her to engage in inappropriate behavior. However, no further legal action was taken regarding this particular allegation.

During the trial, the Crown questioned the coincidence of multiple allegations surfacing when the children were around the same age when the alleged assaults took place. Dewick dismissed any suggestion of sexual intent, attributing his actions to severe back pain that he had purportedly endured for years.

In an exchange with Judge Paul Thomas, Dewick was asked to provide medical evidence supporting his claim of back pain. However, he admitted to never seeking medical attention for this condition.

The trial continues.