A FORMER council worker took a vulnerable 13-year-old boy to a remote field, raped him and then paid him £5, a jury was told.

Burnley Crown Court heard that between June 2001 and June 2004 Derek Denwood, now 63, went on to have sex with the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, almost weekly and would pay him £5.

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Denwood’s alleged offending only came to light in February 2015 when the complainant, now 28, confided in his probation officer.

Prosecutor Amanda Johnson told the court that the victim referred to Denwood as ‘the fat man’, said he worked for the council in Nelson and that he lived in Colne.

He also said the defendant would pay him for sex and ‘that made him feel like a prostitute’.

The court heard Denwood first bumped into the boy at Nelson bus station.

Ms Johnson said while the teenager was using the urinals Denwood performed a sexual act and encouraged the complainant to engage in indecent behaviour.

After offering the boy money to go somewhere else, Denwood was said to have driven him in his Jeep-type vehicle to remote fields off Knotts Lane, overlooking Colne, where Denwood is alleged to have raped him.

Ms Johnson said: “The defendant told the victim not to tell anybody what had happened. He told him if he did nobody would believe him. He paid the complainant £5 as a bribe.”

Ms Johnson said in a second incident the boy saw Denwood, of Dickson Street, Colne, driving a red works truck. Now 14, Denwood asked him if he wanted to have sex again.

This time the encounter allegedly took place in the back of the works van. On this occasion the alleged victim, who is believed to have learning difficulties, was said to have received £10.

The court heard how Denwood never disclosed his name and knew the victim was underage because he had told him.

Ms Johnson said Denwood would text the victim locations of where to meet for sex, including the showers at the council offices in Fleet Street, Nelson, and his home.

The court heard how the alleged victim knew Denwood was married and even had to run out of the back door when his daughter arrived home early one day.

The encounters stopped when the alleged victim turned 16 and began attending college. But the court heard they started again and the last time the men had sex was weeks before the complainant made his statement to the police.

The jury was told the victim had told his brother about the relationship with Denwood in 2011 and even pointed him out, but was not prepared to go to the police at that time. Ms Johnson said after seeing him parked up in his works van around that time the victim’s brother had twice warned him off.

When the victim went to the police in February 2015 he showed officers a text message allegedly from the defendant asking to meet up in Walton Lane Cemetery, Nelson. Police went to the cemetery found Denwood and took him to Burnley Police Station for interview.

The court heard how Denwood told police he knew the victim and he used to charge him £5 to ‘have a bit of fun’ but lately that had increased to £10.

After initially denying he had driven the alleged victim in his van he admitted to having sex with him in a red works van with sheets over the windows.

Denwood denies six counts of rape, one of indecency and a charge of indecent assault. The trial continues.