An angry father attacked a man after he found him in a toilet cubicle with his young daughter.
A court heard how the seven-year-old had gone to the toilet at Colchester's Drury Arms pub, but when her mother went to find her, she was not there.
The girl's stepfather went to look for her, and when he heard a child crying in the men's toilet, he kicked open a cubicle door, said Christine Agnew, prosecuting at Chelmsford Crown Court.
Inside, he allegedly discovered the child with 26-year-old Gareth Taylor.
As the little girl ran crying from the toilet, her stepfather assaulted Taylor.
The prosecution has alleged Taylor, of Maidenburgh Street, Colchester, took the child to the men's toilet.
He denies abducting the child with intent to commit a sexual offence, and an alternative charge of abduction.
The court heard how the child was in the pub in Layer Road, Colchester, with her mother and stepfather on August 19 last year.
- The trial continues
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