Man charged with 24 historical sex offences

Clive McKnight stood in the dock at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates’ Court to plead not guilty to all the charges, which include two counts of rape.

The 65-year-old, of Pinewood Crescent, Ince, was dressed in a black suit and striped shirt and spoke only to confirm his name, address and date of birth.

He will now face a trial before a crown court jury after the charges were deemed too serious to be dealt with by magistrates.

In total, he faces 16 counts of indecent assault against a girl under the age of 14 dating from 1970 to 1988 and six charges of gross indecency with a girl under 14 dating from 1972 to 1978.

The remaining two charges are one of rape of female under 16 between February 1974 and February 1975 and one rape of a female aged 16 years and over from February 1982 and February 1983.

The Wigan Evening Post understands that the charges relate to complaints by four different women.

McKnight was bailed to appear at Liverpool Crown Court for a preliminary hearing on April 26.

While on bail he must not have any unsupervised contact with any child aged under 16, not to contact any prosecution witness and to reside at the address given to the court.