Editor’s note:  The case was subsequently transferred to Caernarfon , where on 20 November 2018 the Crown offered no evidence and in consequence Mr Deveraux was completely acquitted of the charge against him

THE trial has begun of a man accused of ramming a loaded shotgun into a teenage boy’s mouth back in 1990.

William James Devereux, 69, ran a farm which was attached to the Bryn Alyn Hall residential care home in Wrexham when the incident allegedly took place, the court heard.

Devereux, of Pont y Capel Lane, Gresford, was arrested and charged with assault causing actual bodily harm following an investigation by the National Crime Agency’s Operation Pallial which has been investigating allegations of abuse in the care system in North Wales.

Prosecuting at Mold Crown Court, Catherine Donnelly said the complainant – then a 15-year-old boy – had been at Wildnerness Farm for several months when the incident was said to have happened in October 1990.

The court heard Devereux was upset after money had been taken from his wife’s purse and someone had moved his disabled baby son’s feeding tube.

The complainant, now in his 40s, was seen on a pre-recorded video link being interviewed in 2013 about the incident.

He said Devereux was ranting and raving and loaded two red cartridge shells – used for shooting rabbits – into a shotgun, before cocking it and shoving the gun into the complainant’s mouth, causing his gum to bleed.

When he pulled the gun out of the boy’s mouth, it loosened three teeth and there was blood everywhere. The gun was then hit against the boy’s chin.

The complainant said one tooth fell out the next day and when he later went to see the dentist, he was told following an X-ray two more teeth had died and root canal surgery was needed to remove them.

Devereux was said to have been apologetic following the incident – another child had admitted taking the money from the purse – and put his arm around the boy telling him he would teach him fly-fishing.

The teenage boy told staff at the care home what had happened but was only given mouthwash and salted water for his injury, and despite his requests he was not able to see a social worker about the incident. Devereux, when interviewed by police in September 2014, said he could not remember the teenage boy.

The trial continues