A MARTIAL arts instructor accused of sleeping with a 15-year-old Chester schoolgirl is expected to hear his fate today.

The teenager accused black belt Tae-Kwon-Do tutor Martin Gary Williams, 40, of taking her virginity at her home weeks before her 16th birthday while she was on study leave for her GCSE exams last summer.

But Williams, of Pant du Road, Nercwys, near Mold, says the two did not have sex until her birthday.

'She didn't strike me as a typical 15-year-old and I'm certainly not a typical 40-year-old,' he told the court. 'I'm quite willing to accept the fact I should have known better. I think I have been a pillock.'

The fifth Dan martial arts instructor, considered one of the best exponents in the country, denies three counts of having sex with a 15-year-old and one charge of sexual touching of a 16-year-old while in a position of trust.

Giving evidence via videolink at Chester Crown court, the teenager told the court she had been interested in Williams, who has taught at her school for 10 years, since the age of 12.

She admitted exchanging texts and e-mails with him following an incident at a summer camp in 2003.

'I hate him for making me have to go through this,' she said. 'I told my parents I was seeing friends. He wanted to wait until my birthday but he didn't.'

Defending, Duncan Bould told the girl: 'Everything that happened occurred with your consent. He (Williams) was anxious you did not have sex until you were 16 and that is what happened.'

He suggested she had concocted the story they had sex before she was 16 to divert her parents' anger at her behaviour away from her and towards Williams - a claim she refuted.

The court also heard how the two met for coffee at Coffee Republic and Caffe Nero in Chester, and spent days out at the Odeon cinema, the Blue Planet Aquarium, Cheshire Oaks and the Trafford Centre.

On one occasion, when the girl was 16, Williams visited the girl's home.

The couple watched MTV, 'had a kiss and cuddle and sex was on the agenda' claimed Williams.

'But I felt so uncomfortable sex was a non-starter.'

During the trial teetotal Williams, who also takes classes at Flint, Mold and Prestatyn, spoke of the importance of self-restraint in his art.

'The art of self-restraint is supposedly one of the things you teach your pupils?' prosecutor Maria Masselis asked Williams.

Admitting he was not entirely blameless for the relationship, Williams said he had made sure the two were never in a position to have sex before the girl's 16th birthday but admitted a sexual relationship from the girl's birthday had continued for about 13 days.

He said the age gap may have been perceived as slightly unorthodox but the girl had assured him it would have been acceptable in other cultures.

The relationship ended when the school was tipped off and they alerted the girl's parents.