Learner driver tells trial she fled car in tears after being groped

Man denies series of charges of sexually assaulting pupils during lessons

A teenager told how she fled a driving instructor’s car in tears after he grabbed her breast while she was at the wheel.

Neil Addison denies a series of charges of sexually assaulting his pupils during driving lessons he was conducting in Fife over the course of more than three years.

Dundee Sheriff Court was shown an interview Addison gave police after his first victims came forward, in which he said he was: “Stupid, stupid – 18-year-old head on an older body.”

Yesterday, the final witness against Addison told how she had just turned 17 when she started taking lessons with him.

She said she and her sister – who also told the court she had been groped by Addison – reported him to police following her final lesson in August 2017, after she left his car in tears.

The teenager, now 18, told the jury Addison touched her “just above the knee” during early lessons – moving on to her upper thigh as time went on.

During the final two-hour session he went as far as putting his hand between her upper thighs, touching against her private parts, she said.

The girl said he then reached over and thrust his hand down her top – grabbing her left breast.

She said: “I was driving with one hand and trying to push him away. At one point the side of his hand had been in my crotch. He was then pinging my waistband. When I got out of the car he said ‘don’t tell anyone about this’.”

Addison was detained by police the following day. During an interview, he admitted he was “possibly” attracted to the girl, who was 37 years his junior.

He said his hand “may have slipped” between the girl’s thighs during a reversing manoeuvre.

The trial has previously heard from a string of young women who said they had been groped by Addison.

The court was told an investigation was begun after the two sisters who gave evidence yesterday came forward accusing him of sexual assaults.

Police interviewed him and seized records of his previous students before making contact with them.

They were not told the nature of the inquiry – but all volunteered that they had been touched by him.

However, Addison flatly denied touching “of a sexual nature” and claimed to police he had only given a “reassuring pat”.

Addison, 55, of Holly Park, Cupar, denies a total of 15 charges on indictment, allegedly committed between June 2014 and August 2017 during car journeys across north-east Fife.

The trial continues.