A foolish prank on a night out. One woman’s word against his. And suddenly this totally innocent ex-Charterhouse pupil saw his gilded life come crashing down...
Last month, alex Broke-smith took a few days’ leave from his job in the City to visit his 85-year-old grandmother in america. He feared he’d never be able to see her again, so wanted to say goodbye.
the former Charterhouse public schoolboy was due to stand trial for sexual assault, after being accused by a venue manager at a birthday party of what alex himself describes as a ‘deeply offensive crime’. the woman had claimed the laughing 23-year-old had ‘aggressively’ groped her bottom and crotch in front of his friends for a dare.
‘I knew this woman was telling a pack of lies, but you fear the absolute worst,’ says alex, who was cleared by a jury at Wood Green Crown Court last week after a threeday trial and ten months fearing that he would be jailed for a crime he did not commit.
‘It’s terrifying to face something that will tarnish you for the rest of your life,’ he says. ‘You know, if found guilty, you’re going to be on the sex offenders register for the most repulsive crime. I was so knotted up inside, I’d wake up an hour before the alarm went off, thinking . . .’
He breathes deeply. ‘I knew if I was convicted, I wouldn’t be able to get a visa to go to the states. My grandmother, who lives there, is quite frail, so I went out before the trial actually to say goodbye.
‘It was a bit alarming to have to do that.’
Here was a decent young man, whose most serious offence to date had been to be caught smoking at £38,000-ayear Charterhouse, with a promising career as a real estate asset manager in the City, being dragged through the courts on nothing more than the word of one woman.
there was no CCtV footage from the venue in North London that night. No corroborating evidence from the 200 guests gathered there. the only person who saw what took place on that July night last year — someone alex did not know — confirmed his account of the incident.
Yet still, the Metropolitan Police and Crown Prosecution service pushed ahead.
Worse still, after initially charging him with common assault, the CPs upped the charge to sexual assault.
In the months since, alex has lost his job and a stone in weight and seen his name dragged through the mud.
Meanwhile, the woman who made the allegation has walked away scot-free. For such is the law in this country that with an allegation of sexual assault, the so-called ‘victim’ can never be identified.
‘ I’ve been in national newspapers portrayed as this awful posh kid who’d groped someone,’ says alex. ‘It paints a terrible picture — and that’s the picture some people will continue to have of me.
‘the worst part was hearing my accuser on the stand. the prosecution was trying to make out that we were these heckling hyenas, laughing at this poor woman as I sexually assaulted her.
‘How can someone can stand up there and say such things — and do it so viciously? I don’t want to rubbish this woman. throughout the trial, we didn’t attack her. I’ve tried to play this in a fair way and focus on the evidence.’
alex is neither bitter nor vindictive. He simply wants to clear his name. He was brought up to be grateful for the privileges he has enjoyed thanks to his parents, who work overseas. ‘My parents are amazing. they’ve worked hard to give us what we have,’ he says. ‘I didn’t like talking about it with them, especially Mum . . . It’s too ugly a thing.
‘they have supported me throughout. they know I’m not capable of doing such a repulsive thing.
‘ You read about this happening to people, but I never even put myself in that person’s shoes because I thought it was such an unrealistic thing to happen to me. Now, I’m that person.’
Until that party on July 12 last year, alex was happily settled with a girlfriend of 18 months and a career he loved. after leaving Charterhouse with three a- levels, he studied history at the University of Edinburgh.
a keen sportsman who skis and plays tennis, he left university part way through his course (‘I was enjoying myself too much and didn’t want to repeat the year,’ he confesses) to train as a chartered surveyor in the City.
He’d recently returned from switzerland, where he skied as a ‘ buddy’ with injured former servicemen for the skiing With Heroes charity, when his girlfriend invited him to her best friend’s 21st.
the party, which included relatives and family friends, was to be the first time he would meet many of his girlfriend’s school friends, so he was keen to make a good impression. they arrived shortly before 8pm.
‘ I’d drunk maybe three glasses of wine, because I was busy chatting to new people. We were at the bar at about 9.30pm when this person started pushing me from behind, quite aggressively.
‘I turned around and saw this woman who was about 30. I thought she was a guest. I’d been waiting patiently for a drink, so thought she could wait, too.’
the pushing continued. then alex saw his girlfriend was being served, so he asked her to get a glass of wine for him and gave up his space to the woman. ‘I told her: “the bar’s all yours.”
‘she was quite rude back, saying: “I’m the manager,” or something like that.’
statements from other guests would later confirm the venue manager had been ‘ like a wound- up spring’ throughout the evening.
alex admits to then playing a prank on her. ‘You know, when you wind someone up by tapping them on the shoulder, so when they look round, they don’t know who it was?
‘It was stupid and childish, but I was just joking around and not thinking about the awful consequences.’
With a friend of his girlfriend’s, whom he’d just met, standing between him and the manager, alex continued his tomfoolery. He taps my arm to show me how fleeting the contact was. the manager turned around.
‘she grabs my hand and says: “You’re coming with me downstairs.” I said sorry, that it was a joke, but she wouldn’t listen. I went with her because I didn’t want her screaming at me in front of these people I’d just met. It’s your worst nightmare.’
In the foyer, the manager told the security guard to escort alex outside, claiming he had ‘touched my bum’.
‘I was mortified,’ he says. ‘Obviously, I didn’t think that was even a possibility. I was apologising, saying I genuinely didn’t know I’d touched her inappropriately. I tried to explain to the security guard, but he wasn’t very interested.’ the woman then returned with the party host and a crowd began to gather.
‘she became increasingly angry and the story just got bigger and bigger. First, she said I’d touched her bum; next, she’s saying: “You dirty man.” Before I knew it, she was screaming at the top of
‘I knew she was telling a pack of lies’ by Rebecca Hardy ‘The story just got bigger and bigger’
her lungs: “You bloody pervert” and saying “He grabbed my a**e.”
‘I was deeply embarrassed. My girlfriend was with me by then, with friends. We tried our best to reason with her, but couldn’t, so we decided to go.’
They walked away to wait for a taxi, when one of the bouncers approached them. He claimed that CCTV footage had confirmed Alex’s account and asked him to return to speak to the manager. Alex agreed.
‘I wanted to part on good terms,’ says Alex. ‘But he kept us waiting outside, so I said: “We’re going to go. Can you send my apologies to the host for what’s happened?”
‘I started to walk off, but he grabbed me and slammed me against the wall. He said: “You’re not going anywhere.” He’s quite a burly guy. I’m thinking: “Oh God” as he keeps slamming me against the wall.
‘A second bouncer joined him and I’m completely panicking. They’re grasping my clothes, shredding my jumper and shirt. My girlfriend and her friends are crying, saying: “Get off him.”
‘He might have said something about calling the police, but I can’t be sure because my blood was pumping and my adrenalin’s flying as I was trying to defend myself.’
Eventually, Alex managed to ‘break free’ and run away.
It would later emerge in court that the police were never called that night and the bouncer had previous convictions for violence.
‘ I’ve never been involved in anything like that,’ says Alex. ‘It was a totally alien evening. Rather like a snowball rolling downhill, it just kept building and building.
‘I was considering talking to the police about the bouncer’s behaviour, but you think: “Whatever, it was a horrible episode in a horrible evening.” The next day, I was going to work, so you put it behind you.’
A couple of weeks later, Alex was at work when his girlfriend called to tell him the police were investigating the woman’s allegations.
‘My heart went through the floor. I called a lawyer, but he said: “Let’s wait to see what happens.” But I was fearing the worst because this woman had been screaming some pretty horrible things at me.’
Eventually, the police contacted Alex and wanted to speak to him at a North London police station.
‘I’d never been to a police station before,’ he says. ‘That wasn’t very pleasant. It was a place of misery.’
Accompanied by his lawyer, Alex was told of the charges against him. ‘ She was saying I’d put my hand between her buttock cheeks, cupped her bottom and forced my hand towards her vagina and bum.’ He looks ashen as he repeats the words to me.
‘I had thought I’d give my statement and it would be plain for all to see that this woman was crazy.
‘But when I heard the lies, I knew I was in for a “sh** show”. The scariest part is you know you’re telling the truth, but everyone is giving this person credence. You feel the police officer is looking at you thinking you’re pretty low.’
In October, Alex received a letter saying he was to be charged with common assault. He was to return to the police station to provide DNA samples.
‘That was really nerve-wracking — horrible,’ he says. ‘The gravity of the situation was now apparent. Work became difficult, too. I didn’t want them to know, so I was carrying this really dirty secret.’
A month later, the charge was suddenly changed to sexual assault. Badly distracted, and often having to absent himself from work to meet with his lawyer, Alex’s work began to suffer.
‘In the December, I decided to come clean. They were shocked and upset I hadn’t told them immediately, but were willing to give me another chance.
‘But a few days later, I resigned. They took my resignation very quickly, which is fine. I can understand they didn’t want to be associated with this.’
Such was the nature of the charge that the matter could have been dealt with at a magistrates’ court, but Alex wanted to take the stand to defend himself, so opted for trial at Crown Court. ‘I knew exactly what had happened and wanted to have my say,’ he explains.
‘Appearing in court was very testing. You’re sitting in the dock, so you look like a criminal, and the jury is hearing all these abhorrent things about you.
‘They’re looking at you, trying to work you out and decide if you’re the sort of person who could do that. My girlfriend and best friend were there, but I asked my parents not to come. I didn’t want them to hear those embarrassing things.’
After three days of evidence, the jury retired on Thursday. They returned to give their verdict after three hours and 42 minutes.
‘You hear your name over the Tannoy and your heart just drops. It’s like this axe is above your neck. You’re shaking and trying to keep it together.’
He shut his eyes as the head juror gave the verdict.
‘You hear the “Not” and a weight comes off your chest. I just let out this huge sigh. I remember the jury leaving and nodding at me, which was nice.
‘After giving my girlfriend a hug, I phoned my parents. Mum was in tears and Dad was super relieved. We all were.
‘I left that court a free man for the first time in ten months. The sun was shining. I remember looking up at the sky and saying: “Oh yes.” The sense of release is immense.’
‘That was 4.29pm on Thursday,’ he adds. ‘But, even now, it’s hard to believe how drastically my life has changed for the better. I think it takes a long time to settle in.
‘The hardest part is everyone knowing about it. People do think: “No smoke without fire.” Victims of sexual crimes are given anonymity, which I think is right, but I believe the accused should have anonymity, too, until the verdict.
‘Anonymity would have saved me and my family a lot of heartache.
‘I’ve been reading about how the CPS is aggressively pushing cases like mine. We won on the facts. The only person who witnessed it said I didn’t do it.
‘So why does it have to go to court when it’s plain to see the allegations weren’t true?’ Why indeed.
‘The hardest part is that everyone knows about it’