A MAN accused of a series of sexual offences against women and children has been branded “a liar”, “a manipulator” and “a sexual predator”, a court heard.

However, the defence for Kevin Offland told the jury of their concerns about contact between some of the complainants in the case.

Offland is charged with three offences of rape involving three different women, a charge of rape of a child, engaging a child in sexual activity, and 13 offences of sexual activity with a child – involving two teenage complainants.

The alleged offences are said to have taken place in the Pembrokeshire and Shrewsbury areas.

Offland, 45, of Nichols Road in Great Yarmouth, denies all charges.

Addressing the jury, Mr Davies – for the prosecution – said that Offland was a “sexual predator” who is “hiding in plain sight”.

“Over 23 years between 1998 and 2021 he has preyed on women and children. He is a liar. He is a manipulator. That he lies can be easily demonstrated,” he said.

“’I vehemently deny any assaults, sexual or otherwise’. In two words – ‘or otherwise’ – he can be shown to have lied twice about assaulting [the first two complainants].

“He plays fast and loose with the truth.”

Speaking about the second complainant, Mr Davies said: “He was nice a first. But then he began to abuse her after he had gained her trust.

“That’s the way this man acts. He’s nice at first, he gains their trust, and then he uses the trust for his own wicked ends.”

“There are echoes of his behaviour in this case. Echoes of his manipulation that come out all over the case.

“’He raped me’, she said. ‘He would do things that were dangerous to my safety’. ‘He liked to be the dominant one’. ‘He liked to tie me up’. She said ‘He knew I didn’t like that’.

“She described the defendant in this way: ‘He’s a dangerous individual who made me feel vulnerable’.”

Mr Davies said the first allegation made to police – rape of a child – was made on December 11, 2018.

“The prosecution say that after she came forward, the police looked for witnesses for what he was like over the years,” he said. “As they pulled off each layer and spoke to each person, they got to the rotten core of what he had done.”

Talking about the two teenagers who Offland is accused of sexually assaulting, Mr Davies said they were “isolated” and were put in positions where they were alone with the defendant. He said this echoed Offland’s behaviour from when he is alleged to have raped a child.

It is alleged that he trained one of the teenagers to help her with getting in the army, and would give her massages to prevent any injury while training.

“He’s never been in the army,” Mr Davies said. “He’s never trained for the army.

“It’s a means of getting [the complainant] alone with him.”

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Nicola Powell, defending, opened her address to the jury by warning against being swayed by the emotion attached to the offences the defendant is charged with.

“It would be easy, the defence would say, in a case where there are six different women, all connected with the defendant in some way, all making complaints of a sexual nature against him, that must mean he’s guilty,” she said.

“In case like this, when you look at the evidence it is very much one versus one. It’s very rare that we get a witness in cases of this nature.

“It’s very difficult for a man if a woman says he’s done that to me. Apart from a man saying ‘No I didn’t’, what’s he supposed to say?”

Ms Powell suggested that many of the complainants had “made complaint after complaint” against the defendant and had “an axe to grind”.

She referred to messages between the complainants, where one said “Hope he gets what he deserves” and “I suppose the case has to be strong”, while another said: “Hoping to get him done”.

Another complainant, she told the jury, sent a message saying she “wanted to help”.

Ms Powell said the messages “tend to suggest they were even meeting up”.

She also questioned the investigation from West Mercia Police, as no records had been found on the initial statements of the first two complainants – or the dates on which they were taken – after the original officer in the case retired. There was also no record of some messages from the mother of the child complainant.

“They were texting, they were talking, they were meeting up,” she said.

 “What’s her evidence?,” she continued, referring to the first complainant. “What had been contaminated between them?”

Ms Powell said the mother of the child gave an initial statement to the police on the day after her daughter had told what was alleged to have happened.

“She may have said that [Offland] either touched or raped her,” the mother told police.

Four months later, in the second statement, she said her daughter had said: “He raped me”.

“That’s quite different isn’t it,” Ms Powell said.

“What changed in those four months.”

Referring to the allegations involving the teenage complainants, Ms Powell said: “It’s the type of contact and the extent of contact that’s in dispute.

“The prosecution can say as much as they want ‘Is this appropriate?’. But, with respect to them, the defendant isn’t on trial for whether it is appropriate. The defendant is on trial for serious sexual abuse.

“He says any touching would be accidental.”

Judge Catherine Richards will sum up the evidence on Monday, before the jury is sent to consider their verdicts.