THREE friends swimming in the pool at the Water Place in Bolton alleged they were touched indecently by a male swimmer, a court was told.

Ashfaq Ahmed claimed he may have accidentally touched the ankle of one of the girls but denied indecently assaulting any of them.

The girls, two 13-year-olds and one aged 12, complained to pool management and then pointed out Ahmed as he left the building.

Ahmed, aged 23, of St Helens Road, Bolton, appeared at Bolton Crown Court yesterday for the first day of his trial.

He denied three charges of indecent assault on the girls at the Water Place on October 7 last year.

Prosecutor Jonathan Dickinson said that the girls had gone into the pool where they claimed they were approached by Ahmed.

The girls agreed to Ahmed's suggestion that they race each other in a narrow part of the pool. The first assault allegedly happened when he grabbed one girl and pulled her backwards. This was witnessed by a fourth girl.

Ahmed then indecently assaulted the second girl when she swam past him as he was floating in the water.

The third girl alleges she was indecently touched when Ahmed grabbed her and lifted her up just as the wave machine was about to be started.

The girls discussed what had happened between them and realised they had all been assaulted and told the Water Place manager.

The police arrived and as the teenagers were talking to them they spotted Ahmed as he was about to leave the building and pointed him out.

The girls were subsequently interviewed at a special police video suite and Ahmed was interviewed by police.

He claimed that the girls had approached him and asked him to race them and he denied indecently touching them.

He said he may have accidentally caught the ankle of one of the girls in the water but he claimed that they had made the story up.

Proceeding