Bungling Fraudster's Bank Sting Exposed

A veteran fraudster, who adopted a stranger’s persona during a £5,000 bank sting, was exposed by staff and arrested by police when his story unravelled.

John Edward Henderson, 66, of Founders House, Carmel College, Carmel Terrace, Mongewell, Wallingford, Oxfordshire says he was recruited because his age matched the real victim.

The former Marks & Spencer personal assistant pleaded guilty to one count of fraud by false representation at Lloyds Bank, Heath Road, Twickenham on December 8, last year.

He also pleaded guilty to possessing articles for use in fraud, namely a fraudulent driving licence and bank card.

Prosecutor Miss Caroline Mungal told Wimbledon Magistrates Court it was 1.30pm when Henderson walked into the branch and tried to withdraw the sum.

He had a bank card in the name of Thomas Joseph Lott, but did not know the PIN and attempted to complete the scam by forging the victim’s signature.

Bank staff were unhappy about the signature and did not believe the driving licence he produced in Mr. Lott’s name, with a date of birth of 1950, was genuine.

There was also evidence the bank card had been tampered with and when Mr. Lott was telephoned at work he confirmed his business had been a target of fraudsters previously.

“Police were called and Henderson claimed the account belonged to a friend of his, but was reluctant to give any name and repeatedly said: “It’s my friend’s.”

The court heard Henderson voluntarily works with the homeless in Oxford and Reading and was hired by one young man who is a drug-user.

He claimed he was driven to the bank by people behind the fraud and instructed on what to do and say.

Henderson said he felt “under pressure” and was not going to gain financially himself.

A probation officer described him to the court as “naive” and somebody who had tried to help others over the years, but in this occasion it “backfired.”

Henderson was bailed to return to court for sentencing on July 21.

NOT GUILTY: Analyst Cleared Of Raping Student He Had Sex With In Back Of Cab

An analyst for financial advisor giants Deloitte has been cleared of raping a Cambridge University student on the back seat of a taxi.

Gerald Laryea, 25, says the 21 year-old consented to sex during the journey from a Chalk Farm bar to an address in Lewisham, south-east London.

The University of Leicester business management economics graduate, of Coltsfoot Place, Conniburrow, Milton Keynes was found not guilty of rape, attempted rape and sexual assault.

“Both of us, our eyes were looking at each other,” he told the Woolwich Crown Court jury. “I was asking her if she was okay and she said she was fine.

“I initially thought the taxi driver would say something, that’s why I asked her if she wanted to carry on.”

The pair were part of a larger group who earlier in the evening attended a rooftop party at the landmark Roundhouse music venue on July 31, 2015.

Laryea says the young woman thrust her hands down his trousers during the event and CCTV shows them still together when walking to a bar opposite.

The student denies groping Laryea and insist she did not say: “She’s jealous. We’re going to have babies,” when the defendant’s mother warned them to cool down. 

CCTV also shows them holding hands in the bar, which they left in a black cab.

“I remember him pulling me forward and taking my underwear off,” she told the jury. “I think he was kneeling on the floor.”

She said Laryea performed a sex act on her. “I was only half-aware of what was happening.

“I was waking up and thinking: ‘I don’t really want this to happen.’ I was embarrassed.”

She told the court the defendant then tried to rape her. “I could feel him trying to do that. I have a half-formed feeling that he turned me over.

“I could feel him trying to enter me. I could feel him trying to open my legs more.

‘He had sex with me that I did not consent to, that I was too drunk to consent to.

“I think he was touching my boobs.”

She admitted not saying: ’No’ or protesting and says she was simply trying to forget about what was going on.

She gave a statement to police the next day, adding: I’ve had a few panic attacks and flashbacks recently when I’ve been drinking.”

The jury took less than two hours to unanimously clear him of all three charges and afterwards Laryea complained about his lack of anonymity.

The trial was widely reported after exclusively covered by Square Mile News and he said: “It’s totally unfair. 

"Both parties’ anonymity should be kept, and if after a trial it is a guilty verdict then the information should go out.”

Royal Fusiliers Soldier Arrested For Hotel Domestic

A soldier with the Royal Fusiliers has been sentenced for domestic violence against a woman at a north London hotel.

Densley Chambers, 30, of X Company - based at Mooltan Barracks, Tidworth Garrison, Wiltshire – was sentenced to sixty hours community service.

He pleaded guilty to assaulting Charmaine Morris at The Corner House Hotel, Camden Road, Camden on April 8.

Highbury Corner Magistrates Court also ordered Chambers to pay £100 compensation to Ms Morris, plus £85 costs and an £85 victim surcharge.

Thief Nicked Mobiles During Kooks Alexandra Palace Show

A thief nicked mobile phones off eight people at a huge end-of-tour concent by The Kooks at Alexandra Palace.

Andrei Dragos Molan, 24, of Harvey Road, Ilford struck at the north London venue, where the Brighton four-piece were playing the final leg of their ten-year anniversary tour.

He pleaded guilty at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court to stealing mobile phones belonging to eight victims at the May 13 'Best Of' UK Tour concert.

Molan received a community order, which includes 60 hours community service work.

Vicar Swindled Parishioners And Nicked Collection Money In £15,000 Rent Boy Scandal

You Pay My Rent: Andrew Sloane

A gay vicar from swindled three trusting parishioners and stole the collection money at his Knightsbridge church to fund sex with rent boys during a £15,000 scandal.

Andrew Sloane, 63, convinced three female worshippers at St. Paul’s he needed temporary emergency loans, emphasising the need for secrecy throughout.

Last week, as exclusively revealed by Square Mile News, he was sentenced to twelve months imprisonment, suspended for two years and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £115 victim surcharge. 

An emergency parish meeting was called when £3,954.68 in collection money disappeared and CCTV confirmed Sloane took it from the church’s safe.

The disgraced vicar, of St. James Quay, Leeds, appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court where he admitted the offences.  

He pleaded guilty to stealing the church collections between January 3, 2015 and September 6, last year.

Sloane also pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud by false representation on various dates between November 23, 2014 and July 20, last year, namely false claims of a loan.

Day Job: Andrew Sloane

The court heard he is now funded by a charity and has spent much of the last year in Iraq, performing humanitarian work.

The victims, former model Tempe Brickhill, 56, now the President Director General of Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake’s London business, Paula Kaplan and Helena Quinn were all repaid at the time.

Prosecutor Miss Katie Bryan told the court: “The defendant was funding a lifestyle and using rent boys and living beyond his means.

“He is a vicar of at least thirty-five years and joined St. Paul’s from a parish in Washington, USA.

He asked Ms Brickhill for a £1,500 money transfer and then inflated it to £2,500. “He told her it was to tide him over and he called her several times in order to hurry up the transfer.”

He emailed Ms Kaplan, asking for help paying-off his United States tax bill. “She trusted him completely and transferred approximately eight thousand pounds.

“He asked for secrecy and not to be open within the parish,” added Miss Bryan. 

The third victim received a text from Sloane while attending her friend’s wedding, asking for £500 to be paid into his bank account.

“A few days later she joined a trip to Paris with other parishioners and the defendant and was shocked he ordered expensive meals and wine so soon after asking for the money.”

Examples of emails and texts Sloane sent are: “This is strictly between us as friends” - “I appreciate your discretion” - “I don’t want tittle tattle within the parish.”

Miss Bryan said: “There was a meeting because money was missing from the collections and the safe.

“CCTV shows the defendant taking the money from the church.”

A police enquiry began in July, last year after Sloane had repaid all the fraudulent loans.

Ms Brickhill told officers she was “angry and disappointed” and another victim described Sloane as a “thief and a liar involved in certain practices.”

Sloan’s lawyer Mr. Shaun Murphy told the court: “These offences reflected a personal crisis in his life and all the money was repaid before the police became involved.

“In October 2015 he made a full confession to the church authorities about what had happened.”

A probation officer told the court Sloane showed “contrition and insight” and the offences were due to “personal difficulties.”  

St. Paul’s is Grade II listed Anglican church situated in Wilton Place and completed in1843.

St. Paul’s describes itself as: “A lively twenty-first century church of Anglo-Catholic tradition.”

Women Sentenced For £100,000 Online Dating Scam

Prison Date: Grace Akintaro

A online dating scammer, who helped fleece seven lonely men out of over £100,000, has been jailed for two years and three months.

Student Grace Akintaro, 24, adopted the role of a fictitious date during phone chats with at least two of the victims and some of the money was laundered by her friend, 22 year-old Victoria Nwogu.

Judge Nicholas Heathcote Williams QC told the economics graduate it was a “particularly nasty” scam after hearing how the victims were conned into funding dates that were never going to happen.

“You knew the nature of the frauds you were participating in. To speak two two victims you had to know in good detail the story spun to each of them.”

The men were convinced their online romance with ‘Amanda Jenson’ was genuine and sent money for travel and expenses, but dates were cancelled with one excuse after another.

“Judging by what the victims say there were detrimental effects, both psychologically and financially,” added the judge. “They were expecting to get their money back, they thought they were loaning the money.”

Akintaro, of Pettacre Close, Greenwich pleaded guilty to seven counts of fraud between August 1, 2014 and December 2, 2015.

Those charges were dropped against Nwogu, of Maryon Grove, Greenwich, who pleaded guilty to one count of laundering £3,490 between  April 29 and May 6, 2015.

She received a community order and must complete 60 hours community service work.

Detectives from the Metropolitan Police’s Fraud and Linked Crime Online (FALCON) squad began investigating cons involving four of the men who had reported the scam to Action Fraud.

Cash: Victoria Nwogu

Further three victims were found during the investigation and all seven had been Match.com customers.

The fictitious Amanda Jenson asked for travel costs to meet up then for short term loans to cover rent and other expenses.

Forged documents were used to trick the victims into accepting ‘Amanda’ was due an inheritance and could repay the money.

One man lost £46,000 and another sent money he received from his late wife’s death in service insurance policy.

Others used up lumps of their pensions and one took out an equity release on his house to help ‘Amanda’.

The audacious fraudsters even tried to prise extra cash from one victim who agreed to meet ‘Amanda’ at an airport and was told to pay a customs charge to facilitate her release.

A photo of the fake ‘Amanda’ was found on Akintaro’s phone and most of the bank accounts were registered to her address. 

Police know Akintaro visited bank branches at least sixteen times, withdrawing £23,000 of the victims’ cash.

Ironically she told the court: “I was naive and used by this person I was in love with.”

The total loss is £104,962 and prosecutor Mr. Kevin Dent said: “The amounts going through Miss Akintaro’s bank accounts add up to just over one hundred thousand pounds and directly link with the seven victims.”

Mug Shots: Akintaro & Nwogu

Akintaro used her three bank accounts and a paypal account to transfer the money, but claims all she has to show for it is a £5,000 Renault Clio and a few hundred pounds.

“It was not a peripheral role because she was talking over the net,” said Judge Heathcote Williams. 

“We are looking at high culpability because of the high number of victims and long period of time. These were romance frauds.”

Rugby Coach And Sports Psychologist Guilty Of Assaulting 15 Year-Old Boy During Clumsy Citizen's Arrest

A rugby coach and leading sports psychologist - tormented by kids targeting his home - has been found guilty of assaulting a 15 year-old boy while clumsily making a citizen’s arrest.

John Pembridge-Hore, 53, the head coach of Rosslyn Park’s ladies team told the boy: “I’m crazy, wait here, I’ve got a gun,” Wimbledon Magistrates Court heard.

He had repeatedly called police to his £700,000 home in Kneller Road, Twickenham and complained to the local school after a dustbin and egg had been thrown at his windows.

Pembridge-Hore, who is also rugby performance coach at St. Mary’s University, Twickenham was convicted of assaulting the teen in nearby High Street, Whitton on August 11, last year.

He was placed on a twelve-month community order, which includes 120 hours community service work, must pay the boy £150 compensation, £800 court costs and an £85 victim surcharge.

District Judge Barbara Barnes told former Irish Guardsman Pembridge-Hore: “You were very angry about what you considered bad and criminal behaviour against you at your house.

“You did approach this young man to remonstrate and confront him about the behaviour of his friends and in your anger used violence towards him and grabbed him, causing him to bang his head.

“You had no right to lay hands against this young man,” she told Pembridge-Hore, who is also community rugby coach at Harlequins and a principal and lecturer at Positive Sport & Mind Cognitive Hypnotherapy College.

After his arrest he told police he ran after a trio of boys, led by a blonde-haired hoodie, after: “One boy put his hand on my gate.”

He denied making the “gun” comment to the mixed-race victim he saw chatting with the three troublemakers. “He’s talking out of his arse.

“I spoke to the kid, the rest is from cloud cuckoo land,” said Pembridge-Hore, a therapist with Anxiety UK, who graduated from University of Derby with a Master of Science in Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy.

“I was aggressive, I was angry, I shouted, I was annoyed. I did not physically touch him, I didn’t knee him in the stomach.

“I told him I was going to arrest him and he started crying. I told him to: ‘F*** off’ and he ran away.”

When asked why the boy would make up a story Pembridge-Hore replied: “He’s a little toerag. I feel let down by the police. If they addressed these issues, I wouldn’t be here.”

Earlier the boy told the court: “There was a man coming towards me quickly and he started shouting in my face. He was wearing a rugby shirt and shorts and rugby socks.

“He was angry, very angry and grabbed my collar. He said it was about my friends knocking on his door and running away.

“He was forcing my head against the wall and banging it and put one of his hands on the side of my face and started to stick his thumb in my eye.

“He grabbed both my hands and tried to pull me towards his car, saying: ‘You’re coming with me.’

“He could then see a man coming over and let go of me and got in his car and drove away.”

Witness Andrew Roberts intervened and said: “A man was holding a teenager up against a wall and appeared to bring his knee up to his leg or groin.

“I said: ‘You can’t do that’ and the man said: ‘I can do that’ and walked away across the road.”

The boy was seen in hospital for a bump to the back of his head and added: “I don’t feel safe in the area I live.”

Pembridge-Hore told the court: “I wanted to know why they were harassing me. I thought he was going to run away so I grabbed his arm and his lapels to keep hold of him.

“I said: ‘Right, you’re coming with me. I’m calling the police and they’re going to arrest you.’

“He started crying, saying he did not want to be in trouble with his mum and dad. I felt sorry for him and told him where to go in no uncertain terms.”

District Judge Barnes also made Pembridge-Hore subject to a two-year restraining order, prohibiting contact with the boy.

Suspended Sentence For Homeless Campaigner Who Nicked £10K From Charity He Ran

An outspoken homeless campaigner, who forged invoices to take nearly £10,000 from a charity he ran, has received a suspended prison sentence.

Jamie Nalton, 41, was the director of The Simon Community, an outreach project for the homeless in Camden, north London.

The father-of-one, of Green Leas, Sunbury-on-Thames was sentenced at Blackfriars Crown Court to nine months imprisonment, suspended for two years.

He pleaded guilty that between June 12 and September 13, last year at The Simon Community, St. Martin’s Vicarage, Vicar’s Road, Kentish Town he stole £2068

Nalton also pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation between same dates, namely altering two invoices to make a gain, namely £7,800.

He was ordered to pay £2,400 compensation to the charity.

Criticising the government’s policy surrounding benefits and how they effect the homeless he once said: “There is a lot of misunderstanding around welfare reform and people are being sanctioned and ending up with no money whatsoever.”

The charity proudly announced Nalton’s arrival in their Spring 2015 newsletter, noting: “We are pleased to tell you that we have a new Director.

“Jamie Nalton joined us as an interim Community Manager last Christmas and has been with us since then.

In February he was appointed as the new Community Director and is now officially in post.

“Jamie has a lot of experience in the homelessness sector that he gained through working for C4WS, the Camden Winter Shelter providers, who organised the church winter shelters in the borough.

“Jamie first came to us when he was working as a consultant who travelled the country advising night shelter providers on best practice.”

Nalton himself said: “I am honoured to work for the Simon Community, a charity that not only helps those without support, but also campaigns on their behalf.” 

He is now a night-shift labourer on the Cheesegrater construction site in the City. 

Much of his mitigation centred on the medical condition of his wife Jhoana Nalton, 36, a weddings and home accessories designer, who was diagnosed with brain aneurysm in July, 2014.

Jhoana, who has a daughter, Jessica, 5, with Nalton had a stent implant to ease a bulging in blood vessel in her brain.

Previously commenting on homeless issues Nalton also said: “Not everyone is aware of services and there may be reasons they feel unable to engage with them.

“Some services in Westminster, for example, are only available to people with a local connection.

“I think we really need to understand more about why people are begging. Arresting people and giving them a criminal record is absolutely not helpful.

“The police need a better understanding of the issues that they are dealing with here.”

Financial Analyst Denies Raping Cambridge Student In Back Of Black Cab

An analyst for financial advisor giants Deloitte raped a drunken Cambridge University student on the back seat of a taxi after a night’s drinking, a court heard yesterday.

Gerald Laryea, 25, says the 21 year-old consented to sex during the journey from a Chalk Farm bar to an address in Lewisham, south-east London.

The University of Leicester business management economics graduate, of Coltsfoot Place, Conniburrow, Milton Keynes has pleaded not guilty to counts of rape, attempted rape and sexual assault.

Woolwich Crown Court heard the pair were part of a larger group attending a rooftop party at the landmark Roundhouse music venue on July 31, 2015.

Laryea says the young woman thrust her hands down his trousers during the event and CCTV shows them still together when walking to a bar opposite.

The student denies groping Laryea and insist she did not say: “She’s jealous. We’re going to have babies,” when the defendant’s mother warned them to cool down. 

CCTV also shows them holding hands in the bar, which they left in a black cab.

“I remember him pulling me forward and taking my underwear off,” she told the jury. “I think he was kneeling on the floor.”

She said Laryea performed a sex act on her. “I was only half-aware of what was happening.

“I was waking up and thinking: ‘I don’t really want this to happen.’ I was embarrassed.”

She told the court the defendant then tried to rape her. “I could feel him trying to do that. I have a half-formed feeling that he turned me over.

“I could feel him trying to enter me. I could feel him trying to open my legs more.

‘He had sex with me that I did not consent to, that I was too drunk to consent to.

“I think he was touching my boobs.”

She admitted not saying: ’No’ or protesting and says she was simply trying to forget about what was going on.

She gave a statement to police the next day, adding: I’ve had a few panic attacks and flashbacks recently when I’ve been drinking.”

Trial continues………….

Women Jailed For Attacking Vulnerable Internet Date During 24-Hour Ordeal

Locked Up: Paige Springer & Tanisha Williams

Two young women, who inflicted “gratuitous degradation” on a vulnerable internet date during a 24-hour ordeal, which saw him beaten, throttled and told he would be killed, have been jailed.

The 27 year-old man, who has learning difficulties, was dunked in a cold bath, strangled with a rope then a hair straightener’s electrical cord and threatened with an electric drill.

Greenwich University student Tanisha Williams, 20, and mum-of-two Paige Springer, 20, were told by a judge: “It is a sickening case.”

Both were sentenced at Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court to twenty-eight months custody after pleading guilty to causing actual bodily harm on December 4, 2015. 

The victim, James Liddell, who lives in supported housing and has a care worker, enjoyed an online romance with Williams via dating site TangoWire and was lured to her flat in John Parker Square, Battersea.

She was joined by pal Springer, of Ramsden Road, Balham and both participated in a violent joint enterprise attack.

Luckily an unexpected visitor saw the bloody victim, despite the women’s attempts to block his view, and he dialled 999.

“I cannot think of any more appropriate words than gratuitous degradation,” said Judge Timothy Lamb QQ. “Twenty-four hours subjecting him to fear and violence.”

Prosecutor Mr. Gavin Pottinger told the court: “He is particularly vulnerable and this was a sustained assault.

Date From Hell: James Liddell

“He thought Miss Williams was in a relationship with him, but when he arrived she locked the door behind him and said: ‘You’re going to die today.’

“He could hear Miss Williams on the phone to friends saying she was going to kill someone and he was hit by her with a pole that caused bleeding and loss of consciousness.

“Further threats were made and he was dragged from the lounge to the bathroom by Miss Williams, stripped and made to get into the bath and remained there until he felt cold.

“His head was pushed under the water and an electric drill was also taken into the bathroom and brandished by Miss Williams, who kept turning it on and off, revving it.

“He was throttled with the electrical cord of some hair straightener’s by Miss Williams.”

The victim responded by desperately thumping the wall in an attempt to raise the alarm.

Springer threatened Mr. Liddell with a knife, telling him: “If you move you’re going to get stabbed.”

Both women repeatedly punched, kicked and slapped Mr. Liddell, and Springer tried to hit him on the head with a hammer saying: “I want to kill him, I want to hit him.”

She did not make a clean contact, but the blow left a bump and Mr. Liddell was also struck in the eye with a bottle after Williams said: “You’d better hit him with a bottle, knock him out.”

He suffered a lacerated forearm, a cut to his left eye, plus cuts, scrapes and bruising to other parts of his body.

His blood was found on Williams’ shoes and on Springer’s clothing.

Two months later Mr. Liddell complained he was still having nightmares about the incident and was nervous about leaving his home.

“There was a clear intention to cause more injury than he sustained because there were a number of blows that did not connect with any real force,” added Mr. Pottinger.

Williams’ lawyer Mr. Dan Darnbrough said: “She deeply regrets her actions. It will be her first custodial sentence and she is terrified.

“Sometimes she drank to excess and took cannabis and says her anti-depressant tablets turned her into a zombie.”

Making a ten-year restraining order, prohibiting both women contacting Mr. Liddell. Judge Lamb added: “There is no dispute this is a Category One offence.  

“Save for motherhood there’s little in mitigation for these defendants for me to take a different course.”

Paedophile Finally Convicted of Abusing boy After Four Decades

A Derbyshire pensioner, convicted of abusing a young boy four decades ago, has been told he will probably be locked-up after undergoing heart bypass surgery.

Graham Saunders, 78, of Town Lane, Charlesworth, Glossop began preying on the youngster in the mid-seventies when the boy was approximately eleven or twelve years-old.

He was unanimously convicted by a Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court jury of three counts of indecent assault and two counts of indecency with a child and will be sentenced on September 15.

The court heard Saunders was previously an employee of Manchester Polytechnic and some of the abuse occurred during trips to the Lake District.

Judge Timothy Lamb QC told him: “A custodial sentence is almost certain to follow these convictions.

“I have information that you are to undergo major surgery that will keep you in hospital for several weeks.

“I want extensive enquiries about your conduct in 1971 and test how straight you have been in this court.

“I will allow time for the operation and period of convalescence.

“There will follow a probable custodial sentence,” added the judge, who ordered Saunders to sign the sex offenders register.

Knickers Stalker Sentenced For Harassing Neighbour

Wimbledon Magistrates Court

A stalker left six pairs of knickers outside the home of a Kingston School of Art lecturer he visited on half a dozen occasions.

David Tiddy, 44, of Arlington Road, Surbiton is a neighbour on the same street as the woman, living approximately twelve doors away.

He appeared at Wimbledon Magistrates Court charged with stalking, without fear, alarm or distress between February 1 and May 8 by leaving pairs of ladies knickers between two flower pots.

Tiddy was sentenced to twelve weeks imprisonment, suspended for two years.

He must also pay £500 compensation to the victim and was made subject to a restraining order prohibiting contact with her.

Secret Camera Perv Gets Suspended Sentence For Supermarket Snaps

A supermarket pervert, who filmed up female shoppers’ skirts with a key fob-disguised camera, has received a suspended prison sentence.

Andrew Bean, 52, was caught following a woman in Sainsbury’s, Surbiton and upskirt shots of a second victim were found on his secret device.

The jobless former delivery driver, of Gateways, Surbiton Hill Road, Surbiton received eight weeks imprisonment, suspended for two years.

He must also complete 150 hours community service work, 100 days of group rehabilitation work and up to 60 days of a probation service-specified activity requirement.

The court also made Bean subject to an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order, which controls his use of taking images in public and he must pay a £140 vicrim surcharge. 

The court heard Bean, who claims Jobseekers Allowance, has been recommended for a post-sentencing dangerousness assesment by the probation service.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of outraging public decency by taking images up the skirts of unsuspecting women on August 31 and 27, last year.

Bean, who was ironically camera-shy when photographed himself outside the court, targeted women wearing short skirts and hot pants.

An off-duty police officer observed Bean as his eyes were fixed on the woman’s bottom as he repeatedly clicked his tiny camera, hidden inside a car key fob.

The officer followed Bean and saw him following another woman.

The store’s security staff were alerted and the defendant was watched on CCTV and then arrested.

NOT GUILTY: Schoolteacher Cleared Of Deliberately Touching Theatre-Goer

A schoolteacher, who consumed a bottle of wine while on anti-depressants, has been cleared of groping a fellow theatre-goer sitting next to him.

Irishman Charles Maxwell, 53, of Elizabeth House, Exeter Close, Watford told a jury his memory of the incident was erased and produced medical evidence to support his claim.

“I can’t remember touching anyone’s leg,” he told Inner London Crown Court. “Maybe I was asleep and it was an involuntary action.”

The jury took just fort-five minutes to unanimously find Maxwell not guilty of sexually assaulting the woman at a performance of ‘Amadeus’ at the Olivier Theatre on London’s South Bank on November 5, last year.

Witnesses said Maxwell, who taught English at the jewish Yavneh College, Borehamwood until February this year, also fiddled with his trousers, which were hanging off him when he stood up.

“I was probably moving my trousers because the button way cutting into my stomach,” he told the jury. “For someone of my size I’m forever adjusting my posture in the seat.”  

Glowing character references from the school’s headmaster and colleagues, praising Maxwell’s work and ability as a teacher, were read to the jury.

He taught at the school for five years, specialising in ‘A’ Level literature.

Maxwell said he was depressed since his wife left him and he drank two large glasses of wine after the interval. “It was to knock myself out.”