A man accused of throwing a boy off a 100ft cliff after the child tried to stop him raping his sister told a mental health support worker he wanted to ‘marry’ the girl, a court has heard.
Anthony Stocks, 54, took the 10-year-old boy to a clifftop in Brighton, East Sussex, and threw him over the edge after the child had tried to stop him from sexually abusing his 12-year-old sister, a jury has been told.
The schoolboy ‘miraculously’ survived the 100ft fall and Stocks was charged with his attempted murder as well as with rape and a string of sexual assaults on his sister shortly after the incident on September 24, 2022.
A mental health support worker who had regular conversations with Stocks following the incident told jurors today that the 54-year-old was ‘very, very focused’ on the girl.
However, the said he never mentioned her brother or asked how he was recovering after his 100ft fall from a cliff, which Stocks claims was accidental.
Anthony Stocks, pictured outside Oxford Crown Court, is accused of throwing a 10-year-old boy off a cliff
Emergency services vehicles line the road near the cliffs in Brighton after the boy was allegedly pushed off the edge
Despite falling 100ft to the ground below the child remarkably survived, although he received serious injuries and had to be airlifted to hospital. Pictured: An air ambulance at the scene
Justine Lindsley, who works at Connection Support for Oxford, told the jury: ‘He talked about how he and the girl wanted to be together all the time and that, one day, they would be married.
‘He thought she listened to him and understood him the way nobody else did. He talked about needing to see her and missing her.
‘He would speak about her a lot of the time. He never seemed interested in the boy, never mentioned him – which seemed strange as he was in hospital at the time.’
The 10-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was airlifted to St Georges’ Hospital in Tooting, London, following the fall.
He was resuscitated, and placed into a medical coma for several weeks.
Another witness, social worker Rebecca Valentine, told jurors at Oxford Crown Court that her very first conversation with Stocks also revolved around the girl, who she said he blamed for the police investigation against him.
Ms Valentine said: ‘It was the first time I met Mr Stocks.
‘He told me about the police investigating him for sexual abuse allegations and he was very worried about it.
‘He said he was targeted by the girl and her sexualised behaviour and that she would refer to him as her ‘boyfriend’.
The court heard from Ms Valentine that Stocks was ‘pointing to his penis’ throughout the conversation with her and seemingly had ‘no reticence at all’ in telling her this evidence.
The child was allegedly pushed of the edge of Ovingdean cliffs (pictured) in Brighton, East Sussex
Jurors heard earlier during the trial that the schoolboy had found out the twice-married defendant was molesting his underage sister and began to ‘interfere’ by staying present with his sister at all times in a bid to stop the abuse from happening.
This annoyed Stocks, who then decided to lure the boy on a trip to London to see the Chelsea football stadium – before taking him to Ovingdean near Brighton, Sussex, and pushing him over the edge of a cliff.
The horrific incident unfolded in front of the eyes of a witness who was walking at the bottom of the towering white chalk cliffs when he heard a ‘shriek’ and saw ‘a small shape fall as if thrown from the cliff.’
A few prior to the incident, Stocks had reportedly approached the girl, who also cannot be named for legal reasons and told her: ‘I’m going to push him off a cliff. I want to get rid of him so we can be together.’
Jurors also heard that Stocks had previously taken the boy to a quarry in Oxfordshire and allegedly ‘contemplated’ pushing the boy off the cliffs there, before changing his mind.
Stocks, pictured outside court last week, is accused of sexual assault and rape against a girl under the age of 13, as well as the attempted murder of the boy and cruelty to a child. He denies all the charges
Stocks, from Iceni Close in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, is standing trial accused of attempted murder, rape of a girl under 13, and a string of sexual assaults on the same girl in the early 2020s.
He told the jury today that he was a movie fan and tha the reason he took the boy to the cliff edge at Ovingdean was to ‘see where they filmed Quadrophenia’ – a 1979 British drama film.
The movie, which is based on The Who’s 1973 rock opera of the same name, ends with the protagonist Jimmy Cooper crashing his scooter over a cliff-top on the Brighton seafront.
White-haired Stocks was on the verge of tears as he gave evidence at Oxford Crown Court this afternoon – telling jurors the underage girl he allegedly raped, touched his penis when he didn’t want her to.
Visibly shaking and fidgeting on the witness stand, Stocks told jurors: ‘I got fed up with it, with her touching me.’
Questioned by his defence barrister Martin Rutherford, Stocks said the girl touched his penis on several occasions ‘with her hands and mouth’ and that he would push her away.
Asked by Mr Rutherford if he had himself done ‘anything bad or sexual’ to the girl, Stocks replied: ‘No, never.’
A police officer stands guard at the scene of the incident on the evening of Saturday, September 24, 2022
The twice-married defendant – who told jurors he could not remember his first wife’s name – was extremely soft-spoken during his evidence and was repeatedly asked by Mr Rutherford to ‘keep his voice up.’
The girl was under 13 years of age in the early 2020s when Stocks allegedly groomed and molested her. He denies the allegations.
He also told jurors he had never worked in a job in his life – apart from when he worked as an extra in two major films.
Stocks is expected to continue giving evidence tomorrow and discuss the day of the incident.
Stocks denies having pushed the boy and claims the fall was accidental. The trial continues.
