A FORMER bingo caller tried to hypnotise a schoolgirl who he raped and sexually abused, a court heard.

Edward Hill, who also stood as a Liberal Democrat candidate in local elections in Bolton, told the girl he loved her and wanted them to be a couple.

Hill, who denies the charges, allegedly raped the girl 20 times when she was aged between 13 and 17 in the early 1980s.

His alleged victim told Bolton Crown Court she only found the courage to report the abuse to police last year after having counselling sessions and reading news reports about other victims.

She told the jury: “I did think to myself that other people are being heard now and it might be all right going to court and dealing with it.

“It was time for justice.”

The woman also told the court how he wanted to hypnotise her.

She added: “Downstairs he used to have a reclining chair.

“He used to try and hypnotise me.

“I really can’t tell you what happened. I have no idea.”

In a video interview played in court, the woman, now in her 40s, said that Hill, who is now aged 70, began sexually abusing her when she was aged 11.

She told how he would touch her sexually and on one occasion he gave her his underpants to wear.

Then, when she was aged 13, he invited her into his bedroom to listen to conve-rsations around the world on his radio — but as she was on his bed he raped her.

The woman told how Hill would tell her about his sexual encounters with women, including a pros-titute, when he served in the navy.

She described herself as “vulnerable and easily manipulated” by Hill, who stood as a Liberal Democrat candidate in Breightmet in local elections in 1999, 2003 and 2007.

Under cross examination by Phillip Andrews, defend-ing, she admitted that she had not complained about or objected to the alleged abuse and rapes at the time.

She said: “He said he loved me and eventually he wanted us to be a couple.

“My head was messed up completely.

“I was a child at the end of the day.”

Hill, of Exford Drive, Breightmet, denies four counts of sexual assault and four further counts of rape.

The case continues.