Green assault trial in US dropped after ‘deal’
Fitness instructor bound by secrecy about legal compromise that results in tycoon avoiding court date
SIR PHILIP GREEN has avoided an assault trial in the US after prosecutors announced a “compromise” had been reached with his accuser.
Criminal charges against the Topshop billionaire were dropped yesterday, seven months after he was charged for allegedly touching a Pilates instructor inappropriately.
Katie Surridge told police in Arizona that Sir Philip spanked and grabbed her backside during classes in the Canyon Ranch resort in Tucson in 2016 and 2018.
Sir Philip, 67, could have faced up to 30 days’ imprisonment on each charge had he been found guilty following a trial. Instead, prosecutors in Arizona announced yesterday that the case had been dismissed “due to a misdemeanour compromise”.
The exact circumstances of the arrangement remain unclear and Ms Surridge
told The Daily Telegraph last night that she was bound by secrecy. “I literally can’t say a word,” she said.
Lawyers for Sir Philip refused to confirm if he had reached any confidential financial settlement with Ms Surridge outside of court, and if so, for how much.
It is understood that Ms Surridge submitted an affidavit earlier this month telling the court that she was no longer prepared to give evidence. Last year, she told The Daily Telegraph that she would pursue Sir Philip through the courts “with everything I’ve got”.
Under Arizona law, misdemeanour charges can be dropped “if the person injured by the act constituting the offence has a remedy by a civil action”.
Last year, Sir Philip’s legal team hired a firm of private detectives based in Arizona to comb through Ms Surridge’s employment records.
He also hired a string of high-profile attorneys to defend the case including Los Angeles-based lawyer Alan Jackson, who succeeded in getting sexual assault charges dropped against the actor Kevin Spacey in July.
It came after Ms Surridge, a 38-yearold mother-of-two, told The Daily Telegraph that the tycoon groped her on two occasions at the luxury Canyon Ranch health club in Tucson.
In a later police interview, she alleged that the “creepy old man” had “vigorously” slapped her bottom up to 10 times in January 2016.
Assault charges against the Topshop owner were announced in May.
It was the first time that the 67-yearold faced criminal proceedings over alleged misconduct.
It comes after three women in Britain signed non-disclosure agreements (NDAS) and were paid huge sums to keep silent after they each made complaints against Sir Philip. Their allegations could only be reported after Sir Philip dropped a long-running injunction against this newspaper. The investigation led to calls for the Government to crack down on the misuse of NDAS.
The businessman has always strongly denied the allegations. In a statement, his company Arcadia said: “At the request of the prosecution, the cases alleging assault against Sir Philip Green, due to be heard before The Consolidated Court of Arizona in and for The County of Pima on 20th February 2020, were dismissed by the Order of the Honourable Justice Vince Roberts on 17th January 2020.”