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Tuesday, April 25, 2006

[nilesfunnies] Fw: Jury discharged in Cambridge academic trial


This story not funny, but sentence:

"We don't see any texts saying: 'I go weak at the knees for
60-year-old men with ginger beards' do we?" said the
barrister.

is worth noting ;)

Jury discharged in Cambridge academic trial

Press
AssociationMonday April 24,
2006

The trial of a senior Cambridge academic accused of sexually assaulting a
former student collapsed today when the jury was discharged for legal
reasons by the judge.

The Crown Prosecution Service was given 48 hours to decide whether to
apply to the court for a retrial in the case of Peter Hutchinson, 61, who
denied sexually assaulting the 24-year-old woman who is now a police
officer.

She told Cambridge crown court that he had made "pervy, Benny Hill" type
noises when he fondled her bottom and then tried to kiss her. She used a
police defence technique to fend him off.

The judge discharged the jury today and ended the trial after hearing
legal submissions from lawyers.

Dr Hutchinson, a former vice-master of Trinity Hall and a married
father-of-two, earlier told the court that he was in the habit of slapping
the bottoms of a number of former women students with whom he was still in
contact.

"It is a small number," he told the court. "I will give them a playful
slap on the bottom. It is those with whom I have had very warm
relationships I suppose."

Asked by Christopher Morgan, prosecuting, "you are a bottom slapper of
attractive young girls," Dr Hutchinson replied: "I don't think so."He told
the jury: "I am a very happily married man. I flirt with people. I
occasionally pat on the bottom students from years ago. I indulge in a lot
of irony."

Dr Hutchinson told the court he and the woman - who cannot be named for
legal reasons - had enjoyed a flirtation and kept in touch via email.

The court heard that on one occasion Dr Hutchinson emailed the woman
saying he went "weak at the knees for blondes of a certain eye colour".Mr
Morgan suggested that Dr Hutchinson had been the driving force behind the
flirtation. "We don't see any texts saying: 'I go weak at the knees for
60-year-old men with ginger beards' do we?" said the
barrister.

Dr Hutchinson told the court that he did not intend to seduce the woman.
"I enjoyed flirting with her. She enjoyed flirting with me. But I would
not have wanted to take it to a higher level."

He said he had patted her bottom on two previous occasions and was
"flabbergasted" and "dumbfounded" when he was accused of sexual assault.