A MAN who had ‘a bit of a fondle’ with a woman after refusing to leave her south Warwickshire home when other people left has been convicted of sexually assaulting her.
David Hughes, who at the time was visiting his daughter and her partner, had denied sexually assaulting his victim at her home in Shipston in December 2013.
But a jury at Warwick Crown Court found 53 year-old Hughes, of Fosse Road South, Leicester, guilty.
At the request of Nick Devine, defending, the case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report, and Hughes was granted bail with conditions of residence and that he does not enter Shipston.
Judge Alan Parker, who ordered him to register as a sex offender, warned him a custodial sentence appeared “all but inevitable.”
Prosecutor Graeme Simpson said the woman, who was in her 30s, had gone for a night out with a friend in Shipston, and while they were in a pub two men they had not met before began to chat to them.
One was Hughes and the other was his daughter’s partner who he was visiting that weekend.
The four of them moved on to another pub where they were joined by her friend’s boyfriend, and it was then suggested they go back to her home for more drinks.
At around 2am her friend and that woman’s partner left, and Hughes’ daughter’s partner tried to persuade him it was time for them to leave as well.
But Hughes made it plain he was staying, despite their host also saying he should go, so his daughter’s partner left alone.
In her evidence, the woman said there had been consensual kissing but she felt bad and stopped.
Hughes then started fondling her breasts and after the women said it was time for him to go she said their was a snap change in his behaviour.
She said: “He was pushing down on me and got on top of me.
“He was pushing down on my chest, and with the other hand he was pushing down inside my trousers and touching me.”
She said she repeatedly told him ‘no’ and tried to get free, but he would not stop.
“The look on his face was like a mist had come down, as if he wasn’t even there. He looked evil and angry. I thought ‘I’m going to get raped here.’
The woman managed to break free and ran out into the street, followed by Hughes, but when she then threatened to scream in the middle of the street ‘he got the message’ and left.
She called sister to say what had happened and the police were called.
Hughes was arrested when he went to Leicester police station after hearing police wanted to speak to him, but claimed everything had been consensual, telling officers: “I tried a kiss and a bit of a fondle, but it was all above-board.’
He said after they stopped and he had had a couple of cigarettes she ‘suddenly changed’ and told him to go, and he left, adding: “What happened was with her consent; she never had to fight me off.”
But the jury did not believe him.
