Snooker world champion Graeme Dott “subjected vulnerable children to the worst kind of abuse", court told

Snooker world champion Graeme Dott “subjected vulnerable children to the worst kind of abuse", court told Graeme Dott denies two charges of lewd, indecent and libidinous behaviour involving two primary school-age children. Former snooker world champion Graeme Dott “subjected vulnerable children to the worst kind of abuse”, prosecutors have told a jury. The 49-year-old denies two charges of lewd, indecent and libidinous behaviour involving two primary school-age children in the Glasgow area. One allegation relates to a girl between 1993 and 1996, while the second concerns a boy between 2006 and 2010. Addressing jurors at the High Court in Glasgow on Friday, advocate depute Lindsey Dalziel urged them to convict Dott on both charges. She said the evidence had at times been difficult to hear because the jury had been given “very real, very graphic details of childhood sexual abuse”. Ms Dalziel added: “The Crown’s case is that Graeme Dott subjected vulnerable children to the worst kind of abuse with a course of conduct which relied on opportunity, for his own gratification.” The prosecutor argued there were significant similarities between the accounts given by the two alleged victims, despite them coming forward at different times. She told jurors they may consider it “inherently compelling” that both had separately described alleged abuse by Dott, and said there had been sufficient opportunity for the alleged offences to take place. Ms Dalziel also highlighted the detail provided by the first alleged victim, who told the court the alleged abuse began when Dott “caressed” her bottom over her clothing while giving her a piggyback. She said: “She gave details about what she felt, what the sensations were, what the smells were. “I suggest she was a straightforward and credible witness, doing her best to tell the truth.” The prosecutor said differences between accounts the woman gave to people when she first reported the alleged abuse were “natural”, arguing that this “shows the evidence is not rehearsed”. Ms Dalziel also praised what she described as the “crystal clear” evidence of the second alleged victim, who told the court on Thursday that Dott had touched him inappropriately on a number of separate occasions. “Did he seem to be reaching for facts, or did that come quite easily to him?” she asked the jury. “I would suggest (he) was a compelling witness. He was relaxed, conversational, keen to give detail and description.” Dott’s lawyer Euan Dow challenged both accounts in his closing speech and urged jurors to acquit his client. “You would need to hold the complainers as credible and reliable, that you could depend upon them,” he said. “In my submission to you, you should not accept either as credible or reliable.” Mr Dow pointed to what he described as “differences” in accounts given by the first alleged victim to people she confided in in the years after the alleged abuse. He also said she had not mentioned some of the more “serious” allegations to people she spoke to at the time, despite one person asking directly whether Dott had “touched her anywhere else”. Mr Dow asked the jury: “What does that tell you about the truthfulness of what she was saying in evidence? “Common sense tells you there is only one truth. All of these differing accusations cannot be right. “Do you just put these difference down to matters of detail, understandable in the circumstances, or actually do they expose a number of real concerns about (her) evidence?” He also told jurors the woman had repeatedly declined offers from people she confided in to involve police, despite, he said, being old enough at that stage to understand that what she alleged had happened would have been wrong. Mr Dow described the evidence of the second alleged victim as “unsupported” by any other evidence and argued parts of his account were at odds with testimony given by other witnesses. “The Crown invite you to accept the frequently shifting evidence of (the first complainer) and the unsupported evidence of (the second complainer) as compelling, and convict Graeme Dott of these serious charges on that evidence,” he said. “Do you consider these sources of evidence to be dependable?” The trial, before Lord Harrower, continues, with the jury expected to retire to consider its verdict on Monday.