Bottom-touching charge fails

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34105, 18 March 1976, Page 7

Bottom-touching charge fails

A man, wile had akcostad an attractive young married woman In the doorway of a Manchester Street chemist

shop, said: “Aren't you gorgeous love" and put Ms hand up the back of her < skirt and touched her on the bottom, according to evidence given In the Supreme Court yesterday. Mr Justice Roper; discharged the man after the jury found him not guilty on a charge of indecent assault on a woman, aged 19, on December 15. Mr D. J. L. Saunders appeared for the Crown and; Mr D. G. Fitzgibbon for accused, who pleaded not guilty. The woman said that after the incident accused walked up the street. She saw two traffic officers on motor-cycles and told them what had happened. They called the police.

To Mr Fitzgibbon the woman said that she had been wearing a mini-skirt, pantyhose and platform shoes. Accused did not pinch her bottom and she said it was not an accidental brushing because he had his hand underneath her frock. His Honour: How far would your bottom be from the bottom of the frock? Witness: I’m not sure — more than a couple of inches. ; The witness agreed that the frock she was wearing was about the same length as the one she had on on the day of the offence. At the invitation of bis Honour who said: “Let’s have a look” the witness stepped down out of the witness box and showed the length of her skirt to the all-male jury. Constable Paul Anthony Martin said that when lie arrested accused about 12.40 p.m. he had been drinking but was not drunk. Accused denied alt knowledge of the offence.

To Mr Fitzgibbon. Constable Martin said accused was a local identity and was well known around the town for his over-

indulgence in liquor. As soon as the complainant described the man witness knew who he was. Accused had been arrested many times for drunkenness. Accused said in evidence that. he had been in Manchester Street 1 on the day of the alleged; offence. He said he had just re ) ceived a cheque for *lBO from! the Social Welfare Department I to cover the Christmas period. He; was unemployed. With the proceeds of the cheque he consumed a lot of liquor. He probably said to the woman: “Aren’t you gorgeous love” but he had no intention of indecently assaulting her. When he was arrested by the constable he thought it was for drunkenness. To Mr Saunders, accused said that he had received the cheque only a few minutes before the incident with the woman. He had been drinking various types of cheap wine. He was going into the chemist shop to buy olive oil or something for sunburn. In his final address to the jury, Mr Fitzgibbon said that it had to be remembered that this incident happened in broad daylight in a busy city street. The case was not as serious as the prosecution would have the jury believe. “If this charge were brought in a country like Italy one would find 40 million men on 40 million charges of bottom pinching. One must wonder what the reaction of the complainant would have been if the alleged assailant had been a handsome debonaire young man instead of a 39-year-old drunk. “How many men would be liable to prosecution if this was commonly complained of?” said Mr Fitzgibbon.