A FORMER Warwickshire Police officer has denied sexually assaulting a number of children more than 30 years ago.
Timothy Lively originally appeared at Warwick Crown Court in November last year. Following several hearings since then, he returned to the court to hear Judge Anthony Potter give judgements on a number of issues raised by both the prosecution and the defence.
And as a result of those judgements, the indictment faced by the 59-year-old, who was a serving Warwickshire Police officer at the time of the allegations, was amended before being put to him.
Mr Lively, of Old School Mead, Bidford-on-Avon, then entered not guilty pleas to a total of 18 charges dating from the mid-1970s to the summer of 1986.
The charges relate to eight boys, six of who were said to have been under the age of 16 at the time of the alleged abuse, and three girls.
The alleged offences are all said to have taken place in Stratford, mainly at a time when Mr Lively was a serving Warwickshire Police officer or, before then, a cadet with the force.
The charges he faces include allegedly raping and indecently assaulting a girl when she was under the age of 16, and indecently assaulting another girl when she was over 16.
In relation to a third girl, he denied two charges of indecently assaulting her, one relating to when she was under 13 and one when she was under 16, as well as committing an act of gross indecency with her when she was aged ten to 12.
Mr Lively also pleaded not guilty to ten charges alleging indecent assaults on seven boys on occasions between 1978 and 1984, six of them when they were under 16.
The final two charges he denied allege he committed acts of intercourse with a teenage boy in the mid-1980s.
After Mr Lively had entered his pleas, the case was adjourned for a trial, which is due to begin in early February and is expected to last for up to ten weeks.
Mr Lively was granted unconditional bail until then.
