A BOY told a jury he felt "disgusted" after being spanked by a scout group leader during a camping trip.

Christopher Blakeborough is alleged to have offered a choice between being smacked or a wedgie - where the victim is lifted off the ground by his underwear.

The boy said he picked being spanked as part of the bizarre initiation ceremony - and was hit three times on the bottom.

He told Teesside Crown Court yesterday (Tuesday, October 21) that another friend was treated the same way during the trip - in front of others.

Mr Blakeborough, 27, of Abbey Road, Darlington, denies two charges of sexual assault and faces a trial expected to last all week.

On the second day of the case, a police video recording of the boy's interview was played to the jury before he was asked questions.

Joanne Kidd, defending, suggested it was new recruits - "rougher boys" - who carried out the initiation ceremony, not Mr Blakeborough.

She asked the complainant if he finally left the group because of bullying by the youngsters, and he replied: "Yes, because nothing was being done about it."

Earlier during his recorded interview, he told detectives he stopped going to the group because he was "scared of Chris".

He said: "I felt a bit disgusted because he was meant to be showing a great example to us, and he wasn't."

Under cross-examination, he said Mr Blakeborough had also done a wedgie on another boy in front of others.

The prosecution alleges Mr Blakeborough sexually assaulted another young boy after luring him away from his home to choose a new jumper.

It is said it was a “ruse” so he could be alone with the complainant who was allegedly assaulted in a church hall cupboard.

Harry Hadfield, prosecuting, had told the court that the boy’s mother trusted Mr Blakeborough and thought he was doing her son a favour when he arranged to call at his home to pick him up to choose a jumper.

He said the defendant placed a tape measure against the boy’s bare skin and just above his crotch and also told him to pull his trousers and pants down.

Mr Hadfield said: “The mother noticed a difference in his mood later, he seemed troubled and what is more there was no sign of the new jumper.”

The trial continues.