Men pulled down girl’s bikini

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34128, 14 April 1976, Page 9

Men pulled down girl’s bikini

A 17-year-old girl had her bikini pants pulled down by two young men while she was swimming at Jellie Park, Mr H. J. Evans, S.M., heard in the Magistrate's Court yesterday. One of the men, Warren John Tait, aged 21, a painter, was convicted on a charge of indecent assault to which he pleaded not guilty. He was convicted and remanded to April 23 for a probation report and sentence. Sergeant R. H. Fronting told the Court that the complainant had gone to the Jellie Park Pool with her boyfriend and two other girls on February 29. While she was swimming, she was surrounded by four men Two of them pulled her bikini pants down, and a third man allegedly touched her private parts. The complainant. an office junior, said in evidence that she arrived at the pool about 4.30 p.m. After changing, she and one of her girlfriends decided to go for a swim and got in the water at the shallow end of the pool. She said that three boys circled round them. Her bikini pants were pulled down by two of these boys while a third “just moved his hand around." She called out to her friend for help and struggled with the boys. She hit one of them but could not remember if it was the defendant. She said the defendant was one of those who pulled down her bikini. After the incident, which lasted about five minutes, she got out of the pool and told her boyfriend what had happened. The complainant’s boyfriend, an apprentice mechanical engineer, said in evidence that after the complainant had told him what happened he went over to the young men with her and asked them what they meant by “playing around” with his girlfriend.

iHe said the young men denied idoing anything to her and the [defendant seemed to be treating I the whole incident “as a huge I joke,” as he was laughing. The defendant said in evidence that the reason for his laughter was the fact that he had been wrongly accused. “I wasn't being smart at ail. I just said, ’Don’t worry about it.’ I had nothing to do with it. 1 wasn't even standing by her at the time.” Counsel (Mr P. 11. B. Hall) submitted that his client had been in another part of the pool when the incident occurred and said that the evidence had not been able to prove that Tait, was one of the persons- who had indecently assaulted the complainant. lie said that although the defendant had originally gone to the pool with the other youths, he was swimming at least 11) yards away from them when the girl was indecently assaulted. Before convicting the defendant, the Magistrate said that he was impressed by the complainant’s evidence and said that he did not think she was the sort of girl to have made such a story up. On the other hand, he said, the evidence of the defendant was most unsatisfactory.