A MUM claimed she had asked whether her daughter had been touched by John Dunne several years before the teen reported allegations to the police.

Dunne, 54, is currently on trial at Swindon Crown Court on a charge of sexual touching.

His accuser, now 18, claims she woke up in his bed while on a sleepover aged nine or 10. Dunne was said to have been touching her chest, telling the girl he was “trying to find her belly button”.

Yesterday, jurors heard from the complainant’s sister and mother.

The former – three years younger than her older sister – had been on the same sleepover at Dunne’s house.

She could remember her sister looking upset when she came into the bedroom she was sharing with another girl. Later, the girl told her younger sister she had been touched by Dunne. But she could not say when that conversation had taken place.

David Maunder, for Dunne, suggested the girl was changing her account to fit her sister’s. At one point he asked: “Is this actually a recollection or is this what you’ve come to recall given it’s helpful as you know what your sister is saying.”

Dunne, now of Westwood Road, Southampton, denies sexual assault on a girl under 13.

The trial continues.