Indecent assault trial this week

Tuesday 02 April 2019

A trial to decide whether a man is guilty of indecently assaulting a woman during the summer of 2016 has started this week in Guernsey's Royal Court.

While the defendant outright denies all of the allegations, he supposedly approached a woman in Town late at night on the 31 July 2016, pulled her dress up and forcefully digitally penetrated her.

The Royal Court heard the complainant say during a police interview that after a brief second of shock, she punched the defendant twice in the face, then ran into the road and hailed down a taxi and left the area. 

Beforehand, she had been in Folies night club after attending a wedding reception, but had lost the friends she had come into Town with. She reportedly noticed the defendant following her around, and asked him to stop doing so. At some point in the night, she also called her partner, and mentioned the man.

Pictured: Folies Night Club, where the defendant and the complainant are first said to have come into contact with each other. 

When the night at Folies was over and people were being asked to leave, the complainant said she went to the cloak room because she could not remember whether she had checked her bag in there. She waited around for some time, before deciding to go to the taxi rank to get home. It was at that point, the assault allegedly took place. 

Gauging how drunk she was on the night, the woman said she was around a five out of 10 when she got to Town, but only around a one or a two when she left the club, as she had not been drinking there.

Over the course of the trial throughout this week, the prosecution will call two witnesses and read a number of witness statements. The defendant's case will be made by Advocate Sam Steel.

Opening the case, Crown Advocate Rory Calderwood said: "This is a case of truth or lies. Either the complaint is telling the truth, and she was indecently assaulted, or she is not, and was not."

It is scheduled to continue all week, after which the Jurats will decide whether the defendant is guilty or innocent of the assault.  

Pictured top: Guernsey's court building.