Stripper who danced for Simon Cowell is cleared of assault

A stripper who once gave Simon Cowell a lap dance on Britain’s Got Talent has been cleared of assaulting a client and making a false report to police.

Magistrates found Kerri Graham not guilty of hitting a man with her phone in an argument over her fee and not guilty of making a false report of sexual assault.

Ms Graham, from Thurrock in Essex, was acquitted of attacking Rakesh Pathak following a two-day trial.

The 48-year-old broke down in tears as Magistrate Jo King said the prosecution had failed to prove its case against her.

Following the verdict at Brighton Magistrates Court, Ms Graham said: ‘I should never have been here in the first place.’

The court heard Mr Pathak had not made a complaint to police following the incident and was not being prosecuted.

He had taken out his penis and was trying to pull her towards it in his car after hiring Ms Graham to perform at his brother-in-law’s stag party in March.

The court heard there were considerable inconsistencies in the account of the night given by Ms Graham and they were unable to say if the sexual assault took place. 

Ms Graham told the court during her trial she had been too embarrassed to tell police the full story.

Clearing Ms Graham of wasting police time, Jo King said: ‘We cannot be sure that the sexual assault claim was false.’

The magistrates concluded the absence of corroboration meant they could not be sure Ms Graham had hit Mr Pathak with her phone and cleared her of assault.’