Wednesday 31 May 2023

Houseguest Accused Of Groping Mum And Three Young Daughters

A Pinewood Film Studios audio editor groped a married mother and three of her daughters while a houseguest during renovations to his £1m home, a court heard today.

University of Chester graduate Harry Trevithick, 33, denies sexually assaulting the middle-aged mum and the girls aged 17; 15 and 12 years-old.


Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court was told married Trevithick and his wife Lily stayed in the annexe of the family’s £1.9m six-bedroom Putney home during a loft extension at their Battersea property.


He has an assistant editor credit for TV series ‘Zapped’, plus sound department credits for video games Hitman 2; Total War: Three Kingdoms and The Division 2.


Prosecutor Richard Jory KC told the jury the 15 year-old daughter revealed to her mother on August 16, 2019 that Trevithick’s behaviour the night before troubled her.


“She told her mother he followed her around the house and touched her and offered her alcohol and tried to kiss her when she was alone with him.


“The parents arranged a meeting to discuss this with him and confront him about it, plus the mother saying she had also been touched.”


Trevithick and his wife moved out of the annexe and six months later the parents told the 12 year-old what happened.


“The girl ran out of the room in tears and told her mother of an incident in her bedroom when the defendant came upstairs, sat on her bed and touched her thigh,” explained the KC.


The 17 year-old daughter then also came forward and said Trevithick touched her and the police were in formed.


He has pleaded not guilty to three counts of sexually assaulting the mother; one count of sexually assaulting the 17 year-old; three counts of sexually assaulting the 15 year-old and one count of sexually assaulting the 12 year-old.


The charges relate to between January 1, 2017 and September 1, 2019 and include incidents before Trevithick moved into the annexe.


Giving evidence from behind a screen the mother-of-four, whose youngest daughter is not involved in the case, told the jury: “In 2019 Harry started becoming over-familiar.


“He was helping my husband with gardening or DIY and I was baking in the kitchen when he came through.


“I was bending over, taking something out of the oven and I felt his hands on my hips and turned around completely shocked.


“It was very close to my bottom and I jumped up and had a hot tray out of the oven.


“I thought I may have misunderstood and it was my mistake. I was confused so didn’t talk to anyone.”


She said she second incident was in the hallway. “He was leaving and asked for a hug, which is not unusual and he said: ‘Oops, nearly kissed there.’


“That made me uncomfortable. We did kiss, but not on the lips, very close and I questioned myself if I encouraged that behaviour.”


The third incident occurred when the woman was looking for a book relating to her Masters course in the house’s study. 


“He came over to the bookcase and put his hands on my hip area.”


The 12 year-old gave a police video interview and explained Trevithick was attending a party hosted by her parents.


“It was common for Harry to always drink alcohol and he had seven or eight beers,” she said. “He came into my room and and said I should come back to the party.


“He put his hand on my thigh and I kind of just froze and he said: ‘Your too young to be tired.’


“I was just crying because I felt so uncomfortable. I moved my desk and put it in front of the door and collapsed into bed crying.”


Mr Jory told the court the charge relating to the 17 year-old daughter reflects multiple incidents.


“She says he touched her on a number of occasions, in particular on the bottom and made comments.


“He would sometimes hug her and put his hands around her and slide his hands down to her bottom and touch her hips and waist.


“She says it happened a lot and he also made crude comments to her and ask intimate questions about her relationship with her boyfriend.”


The 15 year-old was groped when alone in the house with Trevithick, said the prosecutor.


“He touched her and told her to kiss him when she was babysitting and sat on the sofa with a glass and bottle of wine.


“He offered her alcohol, but she declined and on the stairs he touched her bottom firmly for a number of seconds.


“In the kitchen he touched her again on the waist and before going to bed grabbed her waist forcefully and asked her for a kiss.”


Trevithick’s lawyer Ali Bajwa KC told the jury his client, of Birley Street, Battersea was a man of good character and innocent of the charges.


“There would have been hugs and kissing on the cheek and it is the defendant’s case that every time physical contact occurred it was wholly innocent.


“His case is that none of the contact was sexual. The family have viewed that innocent contact in an unfavourable light.”


Trial continues…………

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