Hollywood actress Zara Phythian 'threatened to burn young girl's belongings after sexually abusing her with husband'

HOLLYWOOD actress Zara Phythian threatened to burn a girl's belongings after the youngster was sexually abused by the star and her husband, a court has heard.

Phythian, who starred with Benedict Cumberbatch in 2016 Marvel film Doctor Strange, allegedly plied the 13-year-old with rum in a three-year reign of terror.

When the complainant said she no longer wanted to see the performer and husband Victor Marke, prosecutors claim Phythian said: "Don't come back, I'm burning your stuff".

It's alleged Phythian and Marke, 59, began grooming the girl before assaulting her at their home on dates between 2005 and 2008.

The couple are both martial arts experts, and Marke, a Tawkwondo 'master', is accused of filming the incidents in an "attempt to recreate pornographic scenes".

Jurors at Nottingham Crown Court have been told the alleged abuse began after the girl was given rum and Phythian, 36, "dared" her to perform a sex act on Marke.

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At the time of the first allegation, Phythian would have been 20 or 21 while Marke was 42 or 43.

The assaults are said to have progressed to including full sexual intercourse, which happened "once or twice a month".

The Markes are jointly charged with 14 counts of sexual activity with a child, which they deny.

This morning, their alleged victim, who is now an adult, tearfully told the hearing how she finally revealed what she described as her "darkest secret".

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She decided to come forward after a cop visited her mum's house to tell her another girl had claimed she was abused by Marke.

At the time the allegation was made, Phythian, of Mansfield in Notts, was enjoying "unprecedented personal and professional success" after taking on the role of 'Brunette Zealot'.

The complainant said she "would never have come forward" and planned to "die with my shame".

However, she had recently become a mum, and felt she had "no option to speak my truth", she said.

Giving evidence from behind a screen, she added: "That was my deepest, darkest secret.

STAR IN THE DOCK

"I thought that if I was to say anything, then my family would hate me. At that time I really hated my mum.

"I got stuck because I had this secret and I could not tell her."

She had earlier alleged the couple "preyed" on her.

"They saw the vulnerability in me and preyed on that," she said.

"He used to record.

I planned to die with my shame… it was my deepest, darkest secret

"I don't know what he did with them. I never saw them again. I did not want to see them.

"I was ashamed. It was a power they had over me.

"I never knew how to get out of that situation. I could not see a way out."

She finally told the defendants she would not be returning several years later, she said.

The court has previously heard Marke's marriage broke down around 2005 after he had an affair with Phythian, who was herself a teenager at the time.

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He is also charged with four further allegations, all denied, of indecent assault on another teenage girl between 2002 and 2003.

The trial continues.

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