Anthony Burnard, 79, admitted sexually assaulting a young girl at a property in Scarborough, but his plea was not accepted by the prosecution due to a caveat.

Burnard, known for his charity work as the landlord of The Trafalgar Hotel, appeared at York Crown Court on Friday for a Newton hearing, where a judge examined fresh evidence to determine the exact details of the incident.

The retired pub landlord, known as Tony, had previously pleaded guilty to one count of sexually assaulting a girl under 13 years of age, but the case was adjourned for the Newton hearing, which would determine the severity of his sentence.

Burnard admitted to sexually touching the child but above her clothes. The victim insisted he had touched her intimately after pulling down her trousers. Burnard, of Trafalgar Street West, appeared in court in a wheelchair, accompanied by friends and family.

Due to his mobility issues, Burnard was unable to sit in the dock and remained in his wheelchair beside a dock officer. The court viewed video footage of the girl's police interview following the incident in June.

The child told police that Burnard had said, "I want to talk to you about something," moments before the assault. She stated Burnard urged her to get into bed with him, saying, "Come here and lie next to me."

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she followed his instructions and Burnard then touched her intimately. "I said, 'Don't'," she added. "He said, 'Okay', and just started watching TV again."

Burnard claimed he had only patted the girl on her belly and must have accidentally touched her intimately. When asked if he had pulled down the girl's trousers before the assault, he denied it.

He admitted the girl's trousers were down when she got out of bed but couldn't explain how. He stated, "I'm sorry (for) whatever has happened. I've been misconstrued. In all sincerity, whatever I did, I didn't mean to do it. It was taken out of context by (the police) and everybody else."

Burnard informed the court that he had been in the licensed trade for 52 years before retiring. He cited recent chronic ill health, including two broken backs and an aortic aneurysm surgery.

When asked by prosecutor Matthew Collins if he believed it was acceptable to be lying in bed with an under-age girl, Burnard replied, "Not really, no." When the barrister suggested Burnard was sexually aroused by having the young girl in his bed, he denied it.

Burnard's barrister, Rob Stephenson, pointed out that his client had a previously blameless life and claimed there were "issues" with the child's evidence.

Judge Simon Hickey noted that Burnard, at 79 years of age, had never been convicted of any offences. However, he added that the evidence overwhelmingly pointed to Burnard pulling down the girl's trousers before the sexual assault.

The judge said he had "no hesitation" in finding that this was the case and informed Burnard he would be sentenced accordingly. The sentence was adjourned to January 7, with Burnard granted bail until then.

The judge will preside at York on that date, while Burnard will appear via video link from Doncaster Crown Court, which has the necessary disabled facilities for his needs.