Blackpool mother-of-three denies having sex with three underage boys

She also denied ever having sex with another 15-year-old who claims pair slept together almost daily for several months

Caroline Lea outside Preston Crown Court where she denies seven counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child on various dates between December 2013 and March 2014. (Peter Byrne/PA Wire )

A 36-year-old mother-of-three has denied having sexual relationships with a number of underage boys.

Caroline Lea told a jury that she had not taken part in a threesome with a 15-year-old boy and his young friend in her bed.

She also said she had not had a sexual affair with another 15-year-old boy and also denied sexually touching a third youngster of the same age.

All of the alleged offences are said to have taken place between December 2013 and March 2014 at her former home in Blackpool, Lancashire, where the Crown say she allowed young boys to gather and smoke cannabis and drink alcohol.

Giving evidence in her defence at Preston Crown Court, Lea explained she had an alcohol problem during that period after she lost her job at the Department For Work and Pensions (DWP) because of depression.

She accepted that male youths congregated at her house "in and out" at the time but said she would regularly ask them to leave her property.

Lea said some of the youths tried to gatecrash a Bonfire Night party at her house in 2013 which she said "absolutely catapulted into unbelievable nightmares from that day on".

She said she was left "soul-destroyed" by the time police arrested her following the sexual allegations.

The defendant, from Blackpool, Lancashire, is also accused of taking part in a threesome with another 15-year-old complainant and his young friend, as well as allegedly sexually touching a third boy of the same age. (Peter Byrne/PA Wire)

She said: "Things started getting rowdy, things started going missing, they were just being disrespectful really.

"I asked them to leave pretty much every night."

Lea told her barrister, Rosalind Emsley-Smith, that the two boys said to have engaged in a threesome with her had never been in her bedroom.

Miss Emsley-Smith asked: "Did you ever have sex with either of them?"

She replied: "Never."

The barrister added: "Did you have sex with them together?"

Lea said: "Never."

She also denied ever having sex with another 15-year-old who claims the pair slept together almost daily for several months.

A third complainant, also aged 15, says Lea sexually touched him while he was sat on her sofa but the defendant told the jury it was the youth who tried to kiss her and she pulled away.

She said he was drunk during the incident and was intoxicated on a separate occasion when he again attempted to kiss her.

Miss Emsley-Smith asked her: "Are you able to think of any reason why (the three complainants) would make the allegations they have made?"

Lea replied: "I could stand and second guess but I have no idea."

Miss Emsley-Smith went on: "Is there any truth in the allegations they have made?"

The defendant said: "Absolutely none."

Lea, of Clifton Drive, Blackpool, denies seven counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child and one count of allowing her home to be used for smoking cannabis.

The trial continues.

PA