Alleged sex abuse victim of martial arts instructors cross-examined in trial

Victor Marke, 59, of Mavis Avenue, Ravenshead, is accused of sexually abusing two children, while his wife Zara Marke, 36, of Taurus Close, Mansfield is accused of sexually abusing one of them with him. They both deny the allegations.

Francis McGrath, for Victor Marke, suggested the second complainant only had sexual contact with him once, when she was aged 18.

She denied this and also denied that her first complaint to the police only concerned Mr Marke.

She said she would never have spoken out if she had not been contacted by police first.

“I would have died with my shame," she said. “This was my deepest, darkest secret. All I could envisage was that if I told anyone, my family would hate me.”

Mr McGrath suggested she could have told a social worker, but the complainant said she couldn't remember ever having one.

"I was too scared to tell my own mum," she said, and conceded she had 'gone off the rails' during that time.

The jury at Nottingham Crown Court previously heard that Zara Marke had appeared in the Marvel Studios movie Doctor Strange, in 2016, and was at the 'height of her success' when the initial complaint was made against her husband.

Giving video-taped evidence, the complainant said: "They kind of instructed me all the way through it. They saw a vulnerability in me and they preyed on that. They knew my mum was struggling and they took advantage of that.

"The cameras were used on all of us. I don't know what he did with (the films.) I was too ashamed of it all. I felt it was their thing that they had over me.

"I really just didn't see a way out."

She talked about the ‘power’ the couple had over her which caused her to change important plans and 'ruined my education’.

The couple are jointly accused of 14 counts of sexual activity with a child in relation to the complainant, as they allegedly engaged in the sexual activity together.

Victor Marke is charged with four counts of indecently assaulting another child. The trial continues.