Kerry Brocklebank pictured smiling outside court after she was cleared of sexual assault
A health spa owner acquitted of sexually assaulting a customer by giving him an unwanted massage has denounced her ordeal as a ‘travesty’.
Kerry Brocklebank, 43, was alleged to have repeatedly rubbed the man’s thighs, despite his protestations, at Huntingdon Spa and UK Sports Massage in Cambridgeshire on October 11 last year.
While admitting to being ‘tipsy’ and in a bikini at the time, she denied the charge, insisting she only touched the man’s calf muscles, which are not an ‘erogenous sexual zone’.
Following a trial at Cambridge Crown Court, Ms Brocklebank was cleared of sexual assault, and an alternative charge of battery and perverting the course of justice.
A statement issued on her behalf said: ‘Kerry, her family and friends are satisfied with the verdict today, not guilty on all charges.
‘This has obviously been a distressing time when allegations have been made that have had an extremely negative impact on Kerry’s business reputation and income, which is a travesty.
‘Her business will continue to run without Kerry for the time being.’
Brocklebank, 43, (pictured outside court today, left, and in a bikini, right) admitted she was ‘a little bit tipsy’ and dressed in a swimming costume at the time
The Huntingdon Spa in Cambridgeshire (pictured) is run by Ms Brocklebank
Ms Brocklebank hugged relatives in relief as she left the courtroom on Monday afternoon.
During evidence, the qualified sports therapist said her life had been wrecked by the allegations and left her suicidal.
Prosecutor Stephen Mather had alleged that she touched the man for her sexual gratification, which she denied.
She claimed the allegation had been a ruse to get compensation.
She said she had earlier flirted with the keen runner and called him ‘darling’ as he waited for a sports massage from therapist Henry Godfree, but that there was no attraction.
Mr Godfree (left) was forced to deny he is gay during the course of evidence in court and Brocklebank (right) denied any wrongdoing
The trial heard Ms Brocklebank had drunk a glass of prosecco and two flutes of champagne while celebrating a friend’s birthday.
Expecting to find the sports massage room empty, she went in search of dry towels dressed in a ‘quite boring, conservative’ polka dot swimming costume.
She told the court she was alarmed to find the accuser lying the wrong way without a towel, partly because Mr Godfree had a history of inappropriate behaviour.
‘When I entered the room, (he) looked shocked and embarrassed. I was pretty shocked and embarrassed myself because he was lying in an inappropriate manner,’ she told the court.
Making his closing speech to the jury, prosecutor Stephen Mather said: ‘This was a sexual assault by a woman on a man’. She was today cleared
‘As an ice-breaker, more than anything, because I felt awkward, was part of the reason I asked to massage his calf.’
She added: ‘I think I may have interrupted something personal or inappropriate between him and Henry. It was the only thing that makes any sense as to why he reacted the way he did.’
The man said during proceedings that he was heterosexual.
Ms Brocklebank insisted contact lasted ‘for a matter of seconds’, before she stopped when he said: ‘No, I’m here for Henry.’
Mr Godfree then confronted her, she said.
Overcome with emotion, she described how the episode had destroyed her life, profession and home.
She said: ‘He had always been very jovial with me, I didn’t understand why he was turning nasty with me. I now know it was about money.’
Defending the decision to bring Ms Brocklebank to court, a spokeswoman for the Crown Prosecution Service said: ‘The decision to charge in this case was made in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors following receipt of a file of evidence from Cambridgeshire Police.
‘The function of the CPS is not to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges for a jury to consider and we respect their decision.’