Brighton cliff attempted murder trial: Boy gives evidence

Police believe Anthony Stocks, of Iceni Close, Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, pushed the 10-year-old boy after he tried to ‘intervene’ with Stocks allegedly assaulting an underage girl.

The 54-year-old is accused of abusing the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and sexually assaulting her on several occasions in the early 2020s.

The trial at Oxford Crown Court heard that the girl confided in the boy, who also cannot be named, and he began ‘interfering’ with the ‘assaults’, leading Stocks to allegedly attempt to kill him.

However, the boy told police during his interview that he does not know if he slipped or was pushed off the cliff in Ovingdean, Brighton, on September 24, 2022.

Read more: Boy found at bottom of Brighton cliffs 'warned about murder plans'

Today the jury heard a recorded police interview with the boy.

He said he had caught Stocks kissing the girl on several occasions.

“I would see them kissing and everything, it was a habit,” he said. “I would say, ‘Why did you kiss’ and he said ‘I didn’t, I couldn’t hear her so I was getting closer’.

When asked how it made him feel, he said: “Uncomfortable. They would go behind a bush for most of it. They just touched lips, it wasn’t like a French kiss or anything.

“I felt really sad for her and she wouldn’t listen and I was really uncomfortable and she was really sad.”

The boy then explained Stocks had taken him on a planned trip to London to see the Chelsea football stadium.

Anthony Stocks (Image: NQ)However, they then made an unscheduled trip to Brighton to ‘see the views’.

“I think he was trying to take me somewhere nice and go to Brighton and, I don’t know, either push me off the cliff or something and he would get away with being with [the girl] without me because I used to interfere. Obviously it didn’t go well.

“He was annoyed because I was there. He was disappointed and kept sighing when I was there.

“We climbed up this edge to this cliff thing. It was steep. I don’t think he said anything.

“I don’t know what happened after that. I either slipped or got pushed, I don’t know. That’s the thing I really want to know.”

Stocks has denied four counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, one charge of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, and one count of rape of a child.

The defendant also denied one charge of attempted murder and an alternative charge of cruelty to a person under 16.

The trial continues.