A man who cupped a council worker’s breasts then told her “they needed lifted up” has been found guilty of sexual assault.
David Woodcock, 56, was “intoxicated” and claimed he had unintentionally made contact with her while gesturing at a property in Strathspey.
However, Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald found him guilty of the offence after a short trial.
Inverness Sheriff Court heard how the sexual assault happened on July 27 this year as the woman was preparing to leave.
She said she thought he would make a friendly gesture but he groped her chest instead.
In evidence led by fiscal depute Victoria Silver, the court heard from Woodcock’s victim, who said she assumed Woodcock was about to put his hands on her arms and thank her when he approached her.
But instead: “He put his hands up over my sides and cupped my breasts with both of his hands.”
‘That is enough’
The woman said: “I took his hands off and I went ‘that is enough’ very sternly and I stepped back.”
She then made a comment about “boundaries” – at which point she said he told her: “They needed lifted up.”
The woman rejected a suggestion from defence solicitor John MacColl that Woodcock had unintentionally made contact with her while gesticulating.
The victim’s colleague, who was positioned behind her at the time, told the court that she saw “his arms around her sides to her back”.
She said: “When I seen it I knew I knew that that wasn’t right. The energy in the room just changed.”
Woodcock did not take the stand to give evidence in his own defence.
Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald found him guilty of the charge that he did “sexually assault [the victim] and touch her side and lower back and handle her breasts.”
Sheriff MacDonald deferred sentence on Woodcock, of Beachen Court, Grantown on Spey, until next month for the preparation of reports.
She said: “As of today you will be subject to the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, commonly known as the sex offenders’ register.”
