A BARRISTER charged with an attempted sex act with a teenage boy has denied the allegation in court.

Rupert Massey, 71, told the court the alleged incident, said to have taken place nearly 40 years ago “never happened”.

Oxford-educated Massey, of Langdon Place in London, is accused of carrying out an offence against a boy, aged around 14 or 15 years old, during a weekend trip to Massey’s grandmother’s Poole home.

He was working as a barrister in London at the time and was aged in his 30s.

Massey denied one charge of an attempted sex act with a boy under the age of 16, alleged to have been committed between October 29 1977 and October 28 1979 when he appeared before Bournemouth Crown Court.

Jurors heard Massey was “absolutely loud and clear that that never happened” and that he said: “No matter how hard this trial is, I will not admit something that I didn’t do.”

A jury of seven women and five men has heard that the alleged victim claims to have been attacked after he had been ice skating in Bournemouth with a group of friends. They heard Massey was involved in youth work until 1998 and had had many children staying at the address in Eaton Road.

Prosecutor Richard Onslow said the alleged offence took place while the teenage boy was staying at Massey’s address but Massey told the court he did not recall the boy staying there.

The trial continues.