• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
  • Guest Content
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Tory peer Lord Holmes cleared of sexually assaulting masseuse

During cross-examination, the complainant had notes from her counselling sessions and her victim impact statement read out as evidence she was either exaggerating or overthinking the incident.

Joe Mellor by Joe Mellor
2020-10-08 15:20
in News
Credit;PA

Credit;PA

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

A blind peer and former Paralympic athlete has been cleared of sexually assaulting a beauty therapist during a massage at a five-star London hotel.

Lord Holmes of Richmond, 48, a nine-time swimming Paralympic gold medallist, was accused of groping the woman after asking to touch her to get a sense of what she looked like.

The masseuse consented to him touching her face when he asked “can I see how you look?”, believing that is what blind people did, but alleged he said “nice” as he ran his hands over her body.

She claimed he had asked her “can I touch your boobs” and “do you do extras?”, adding “are you sure you’ve never done it?” when she replied “no, I am a professional”.

At the time Lord Holmes was covered only by a towel, having removed the paper underpants provided because they had torn, a trial at Southwark Crown Court heard.

Lord Holmes denied any wrongdoing, saying that the allegations had arisen out of a misunderstanding when he had asked to touch the masseuse’s face.

A jury at Southwark Crown Court cleared Holmes, with an address in Richmond, Surrey, after just over five hours of deliberations.

Asked if he wanted to give any comment following the verdict, Lord Holmes said: “Not at the moment.”

Sense

Lord Holmes, who went blind almost overnight at the age of 14, was accompanied by his guide dog Nancy in the dock throughout the trial.

RelatedPosts

Unite secures 28% pay rise for hundreds of Luton airport workers

Woman dies from hypothermia after telling her doctor she ‘couldn’t afford heating’

Serving Met Police officer pleads guilty to child sexual offences

BBC chairman set to be grilled by MPs amid questions over Boris Johnson loan

He said he used touch to get a sense of the people around him.

“My world would stop here (in front of me) if I couldn’t contact that external world that you can get in the blink of an eye, and I try to use everything I’ve still got to try and construct that world,” Lord Holmes told the jury.

“So, through sound, smells, and, yes, touch, but touch as a means of being able to construct that world, touching objects, and, yes, touching people every single day.”

He continued: “(It’s) to get a sense of that other person – not to make a facsimile or an oil painting of them, just having a sense of that other person who was in a room that I didn’t really know, with a person I don’t know, lying on my back and feeling completely vulnerable.”

He said he and his wife Stephanie had made a new year’s resolution to get fitter, and that he had booked the deep tissue treatment to help with tight muscles.

He was helped from the dock by his wife and with his guide dog following Thursday’s verdict, rubbing his eyes and repeatedly breathing sighs of relief.

The trial heard the complainant went on to complete the last few minutes of the treatment.

She said she did not just leave immediately because she was worried about Lord Holmes hurting either himself or his guide dog in the small treatment room.

Manager

She immediately told her manager about what had happened, and the agency that employed her.

In a message to her boyfriend, she told him: “(It was) my fault as I stayed in the room.”

During cross-examination, the complainant had notes from her counselling sessions and her victim impact statement read out as evidence she was either exaggerating or overthinking the incident.

The court heard the complainant had referred to the incident as “my sexual abuse” in her impact statement and in conversations with a counsellor.

Lord Holmes retired from sport in 2002 and was appointed to the House of Lords in 2013.

He has also had a successful career as a solicitor, earning a degree in law in 2002.

Related: ‘Maybe he should retrain to be a musician?’ Liam Fox misses out on WTO job

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

The Budget and the Bigger Picture

16-year-old boy accused of murdering teenager Jodie Chesney wept as he was remanded

Chinese take over set to buy British Steel out of liquidation and save 4,000 jobs

Reactions: Johnson missed Covid meetings ‘to write Shakespeare biography funding divorce’

Humpback whale spotted in Thames has died, charity says

Bacon and Mushroom Arrabbiata with Lentil Penne Pasta

Previously unheard track from Chris Cornell will see release on 16th November

Rumours – Manchester United, Arsenal, Newcastle United and more

Ukrainian e-marketing automation system eSputnik won the first prize at E-Commerce Berlin Expo 2018

Beetle discovered on Indonesian island has been named Yoda

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Commercial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Address

The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE
Company number 09221879
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.