An 88-year-old man accused of sexually abusing four girls admitted supplying them with cannabis and cigarettes during cross-examination.

Explaining why he had given them the drug, Leonard Swallow told Ipswich Crown Court that he thought when they became 16 "they could do what they liked".

When Kate Davey, prosecuting, asked Swallow why he had told police that he had not supplied the cigarettes and drugs and that cannabis was illegal at any age, he replied that he believed the police were asking about before the girls were 16, which he thought was the legal age.

Previously in the trial, Swallow had been accused of grooming the girls by giving them junk food, sweets, money, alcohol and cigarettes and providing an environment at his Knettishall bungalow which was described as "every child's dream".

On Wednesday, the court heard Miss Davey ask Swallow about a game of hide and seek in the dark at his bungalow, during which he allegedly forced one of the girls into a cupboard under the sink so she could perform a sex act on him.

But he said: "The cupboard was not big enough. She was about 10 stone, she would not have been able to get in."

Miss Davey also suggested the bungalow was a place of physical punishment for one of the girls, who were said to be "troubled," but Swallow said she was learning to not be nasty to her mum.

He said: "It was a place for her to come and learn and not to be nasty to her mum. It was not physical punishment. She had to be in bed by nine and not to use her mobile phone."

When asked if he thought all the girls were "liars," Swallow replied "yes".

Swallow of Peddars Close, Ixworth, has denied two offences of rape, 18 offences of sexual assault, three offences of sexual activity with a child, three offences of causing a child to engage in sexual activity and two offences of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

The offences which relate to four alleged victims are said to have been committed between 2010 and 2021.

The trial continues.