Court hears MP Evans was ‘in love’ with alleged victim

Evans, 56, on trial for a series of sex offences, fell for the bi-sexual younger man according to his girlfriend, Preston Crown Court heard.

The Ribble Valley MP is accused of assaulting the young man at his home in the village of Pendleton, near Clitheroe, in 2009 – the year before he came out publicly as a gay man himself.

The complainant’s girlfriend at the time told the court she thought the MP was in love with her then boyfriend.

The young man told the court after a drinking session he awoke in the night on Evans’ settee to find the MP’s hand inside his boxer shorts.

The woman told the jury her ex-boyfriend, then aged 23, was “in disbelief” and “really angry” Evans had touched him.

She added: “I knew he (Evans) was a attracted to him.

“I knew there was frequent, in my view, what I would consider inappropriate contact between them.

“It’s true, I absolutely formed the opinion he had fallen in love with my boyfriend.”

Peter Wright QC, defending, asked why she had never got the MP’s version of events.

“Nigel never liked me very much,” she replied, adding that in social situations he would avoid talking to her.

Evans’ trial began on Monday with the prosecution claiming he used his “powerful” political influence to take sexual advantage of seven young men - often while drunk.

The MP, a former deputy speaker, denies one rape, two indecent assaults and six sexual assaults, said to have taken place on various dates between 2002 and last year.

The trial was adjourned until Monday.

(Proceeding)