Masseuse: My male client made up sex assault to win compensation
A FEMALE spa owner accused of groping a male client during an unwanted massage yesterday said he made up sex attack claims to win a compensation payout.
Kerry Brocklebank is accused of drunkenly rubbing the man’s leg as he waited in his underpants for a male masseur.
A court heard how the 43-year-old walked in to a therapy room wearing a bikini and massaged him as he pleaded with her to stop.
But yesterday she suggested the man – who cannot be named for legal reasons – was lying on a treatment table in a ‘provocative manner’ while waiting for a sports massage from a male colleague.
She claimed she may have been about to ‘interrupt something inappropriate’ and said later allegations of sexual assault against her may have been ‘fabricated’ in a bid to win compensation money.
Brocklebank said she had been looking for a dry towel when she walked in and found the client wearing striped pants and lying on his front on a red ‘fluffy throw’ with his ‘legs kicked up behind him’. She told Cambridge crown court: ‘I knew he knew I had caught him in the wrong position the wrong way around with his towel not on, he didn’t know what to do.’
In her statement to police, she said: ‘ That is the only thing that makes sense to me as to why he reacted the way he did.’
Brocklebank, who owns Huntingdon Spa and UK Sports Massage in Cambridgeshire, denies sexual assault. She told jurors there was ‘absolutely nothing sexual’ about what she did, adding: ‘I would never touch a man on his hairy calf, it wouldn’t do anything for me.’
She also said she preferred ‘proper men’. Brocklebank said: ‘ When I entered the room he looked shocked and embarrassed, I was equally shocked and embarrassed because he was laying in an inappropriate manner. I believe that the intent was […] to fabricate the incident [to] hopefully get some compensation […] which is just crazy.’
Yesterday Brocklebank, from Huntingdon, insisted she had been wearing a ‘ conservative’ swimsuit and was only ‘merry’ after drinking champagne in a hot tub with a friend before the incident in Octo- ber. The spa boss said she walked in on the client – a keen runner – as he lay waiting in his underwear for masseur Henry Godfree.
She said: ‘I felt embarrassed for him. I tried to put him at ease.’
Brocklebank said she put a specialised sports massage oil made of lavender, lemongrass, peppermint and rosemary on her hands but was told: ‘No. I’m here to see Henry.’
She told jurors: ‘I thought it was strange turning down free time. I thought maybe he thinks I’m just the owner or a masseuse and not a sports therapist.’
She said she wanted to avoid putting the sports oil on her towels and proceeded to rub it into his right calf, adding: ‘Yes, it was seconds. Absolutely nothing sexual about it at all. The minute he said no I stopped and left.’ Sobbing in the witness box, she told jurors: ‘I didn’t do anything wrong.’
Asked if she was attracted to the alleged victim by her defence barrister Emma Rance, she said: ‘No absolutely not, he’s not my type.’
She also denies perverting the course of justice by sending a message to Mr Godfree, stating: ‘Believe me if this goes to court I will ruin the pair of you.’ She told the court: ‘I meant to protect myself and protect everybody. This trial is costing £10,000 a day, it’s ridiculous, this is taxpayers’ money.’
Mr Godfree earlier told jurors that Brocklebank was ‘very drunk’ and that when he entered the room it looked as if he was ‘spoiling her fun’. The trial continues.
‘I caught him in the wrong position’