BA pilot accused of child sex offences ‘used his job to meet under-age boys around world,’ court hears
Bartle Frere is alleged to have used a false name to book hotel rooms for his meetings with the boys and to have lavished them with money and gifts
A British Airways pilot used his job flying passengers around the world to meet under-age boys and lavish them with money and gifts, a court was told.
Bartle Frere is accused of “arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence” against boys in India, as well as abusing two boys in the UK.
A jury at Bournemouth Crown Court was told that detectives uncovered Frere’s regular social network contact over six years with teenage boys in the sub-continent after seizing a computer at his former home in Dorset last November.
The 50-year-old pilot is alleged to have used a false name to book hotel rooms for his meetings with the boys and to have lavished them with money and gifts, such as iPhones.
Elisabeth Bussey-Jones, prosecuting, read to the jury some of the messages that Frere had sent the boys in India.
“I want a hug and have a bath with you and cuddle you in bed,” the defendant wrote. “Have you found any other boys you can bring to my hotel? Will you find me a boy?”
On one occasion an Indian boy tells the pilot that he has a “surprise” for him.
The court was told that Frere replied: “I cannot wait to discover your surprise.”
On another occasion Frere told a teenager: “Please send me some sexy photos – I want to see all of you. I love you, you look really hot.”
Summarising the chat, Ms Bussey-Jones told the court: “The conversations indicate Mr Frere was meeting these boys during the course of his role as a BA pilot and flying to various locations, including India.”
Ms Bussey-Jones told the jury that police found photographs on Frere’s mobile phone of a guest book for a hotel in India. The photographs showed that Frere had made a reservation under the name of “John Smith” for himself and for two others.
“The Crown would suggest this is some sort of trophy and capturing an image of a meeting that has taken place,” she said.
Frere was arrested on November 10 last year when he returned to the UK after having flown a BA flight to Bangkok.
Shortly before landing the plane in the Thai capital, Frere had typed into search engines on his mobile phone “Where do you pick up under-age boys in Bangkok?”, the court was told.
Frere, of Marcham, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, denies a total of 25 sex charges.
The trial continues.
PA