A MUM told a court she confronted a man she suspected of indecently assaulting her daughter.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, took to the witness box at Basildon Crown Court yesterday to recount the conversation she had with Wayne Bruce, 50, in June 1996.

She said she had become concerned about his behaviour and asked him if he had abused her daughter, who was a schoolgirl aged between 11 and 14 at the time.

Bruce, of Rettendon Gardens, Wickford, is accused of carrying out a string of sexual assaults between 1988 and 1996.

The woman told the court how she asked Bruce about his relationship with her daughter. She said: "I asked him if he'd been touching her. He just shrugged and said his mum had done it to him."

She added: "He said he had tried it on with her, but hadn't got anywhere with her."

Bruce denies two counts of rape, two counts of attempted rape and five counts of indecent assault.