07:48
Tieng Anh Vui
A girl allegedly abused by Coronation Street actor Michael Le Vell has "no reason to lie", a court has heard.
Mr Le Vell, 48, on trial under his real name Michael Turner, denies 12 child sex offences, including five of rape.
In her closing speech at Manchester Crown Court, prosecutor Eleanor Laws QC urged the jury to mark the girl's courage with guilty verdicts.
Alisdair Williamson, defending, said the girl's account was "inconsistent, incoherent and unbelievable".
The girl, who cannot be named, has alleged she was abused from the age of six until she was 14.
Mr Le Vell, from Hale in Greater Manchester, faces five counts of rape, three of indecent assault, two of causing a child to engage in sexual activity and two of sexual activity with a child.
'Absolutely the truth'
Miss Laws told the jury to remind themselves of the evidence the alleged victim gave earlier in the trial.
She said: "The reality was that there was no reason for her to lie. It is absolutely the truth, there is no other reason that holds water.
"You remember her as bubbly, lovely, naive, so lovely...she was not twisted".
Miss Laws described Le Vell as a "troubled man".
She said: "Bear in mind what this witness has put herself through over a long period of time.
"What has she got to gain from all of that? Absolutely nothing, unless it is the truth and that is what she wants to tell you."
'Lack of detail'
Mr Williamson, giving the closing speech for the defence, reminded the jury of the lack of "forensic evidence" presented by the prosecution.
He said: "You are going to throw a man's life away? You are going to cast him to the outer darkness of being a child rapist?
"Where is the consistency, the solidity of evidence on which you are going to be sure? Not there, simply not there."
He accused the girl of making "silly" or "ridiculous" details in her story that "doesn't add up".
Mr Williamson added: "There's an agonising lack of detail from this witness. She can't give you details because it did not happen and that's why her story varies according to who she's talking to."
Summing up the trial, Judge Michael Henshell said the jury's assessment of the alleged victim was "critical in this case".
He said if the Crown was right and she was a truthful witness then she was someone who was recalling traumatic events from an early age.
The other side of the coin was that she was "dishonest" and had come to court to "quite literally destroy" the life of the defendant, the court heard.
The case continues.
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