And in an unusual move the Attorney General has made an order which, in effect, means that Dennis Smith will never go on trial for the alleged offences.

Smith, 77, who lived in Weston-under-Wetherley at the time, had pleaded not guilty at Warwick Crown Court to indecently assaulting two girls, aged about seven and 11, on various occasions in the mid-1980s.

But his severe angina and other health problems led the prosecution to approach the Attorney General to see if the trial could continue - and he ruled that it be adjourned indefinitely, until Smith’s health improves sufficiently.

Smith’s GP and a consultant cardiologist had stated that Smith was unfit to stand trial.

Matthew Brook, prosecuting, told the court on Tuesday that Mr Smith initially “accepted his behaviour was disgusting and he had used the opportunities for his own sexual gratification”.

But when he appeared in court in December, Smith denied the charges, said Mr Brook.

Peter Freeman, defending, said in a previous hearing that Smith thought the girls had “turned against” him for unknown reasons and that Smith insisted “the allegations are untrue”.

Judge Coates said this week: “There will be a number of people who will be dismayed that someone who has acknowledged what had happened in a police interview cannot be dealt with by the courts because that did not lead to a plea of guilty.”

And he added: “But the Attorney General’s decision is final.”