Did you make a false Harvey Weinstein-type allegation in heat of the moment? Woman is accused of lying over Irish film boss sex attack claim
AN actress has denied making a false “Harvey Weinstein-type” allegation of sexual assault against an Irish film director, a court heard yesterday.
Jurors were told her meeting with Bafta-nominated Stephen Fingleton, 35, was a “total disaster” and she had embarrassed herself.
A defence lawyer said the complainant had “misrepresented” the encounter on October 27, 2017.
She added: “When you met Stephen Fingleton you hoped it would help you on your way to becoming famous.
“Instead he effectively told you he didn’t think very much of your film and he wasn’t interested in working with you.
“Were you concerned your meeting had been a total disaster and you had embarrassed yourself ?
“You realised you were not going to be able to raise your profile in any positive way from this meeting.
“Did you decide in the heat of the moment to make an untrue Harvey Weinstein-type allegation against him? You know full well the allegations are lies.”
But the woman, who is in her 20s cannot be named for legal reasons, denied she had made up the claims. Fingleton, from Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, met the complainant at a party and allegedly told her he was looking for an actress for a film.
Jurors heard the pair exchanged numbers and eventually arranged to have lunch at her London flat.
It is claimed the accused grabbed the woman’s head and pushed it towards his crotch and said, “You get down there, you get down there”.
The complainant previously alleged she told Fingleton she had thought it was a business meeting but he told her: “I don’t separate the two.” Isleworth Crown Court heard
COURT YESTERDAY
when she told the accused she was not interested, he had held her hands and tried to kiss her.
She added: “I remember thinking he is much stronger than me and he could rape me if he wanted to and I remember just shouting, ‘You have to leave now’.”
The woman claimed she started crying and ordered Fingleton out but he hugged her, stroked her hair and put his hand under her T-shirt.
She told the court the accused told her he thought she was “a submissive”.
The woman added: “I said, ‘That’s not right, that’s not me’. I said, ‘I wish I was ugly’ and he still held me and he said ‘I would not be here if you were ugly’.”
The jury heard she texted a friend: “I met a director and he was totally Harvey Weinstein.”
A prosecutor told the court the woman felt uncomfortable when Fingleton touched her shoulder “unexpectedly” as he passed her.
She added the complainant did not say anything as “she did not want to offend and ruin a possible work opportunity if she had gotten the wrong end of the stick”.
The trial continues.
Were you concerned the meeting had been a total disaster? DEFENCE LAWYER