Millionaire: Sex attack accuser was the ‘dregs’

A MILLIONAIRE sailor accused of groping a young woman told a jury that the alleged victim and her friends were ‘dregs’ who made up the attack so he would be thrown out of an exclusive yacht club.

Peter Bonham Christie, 39, allegedly ‘aggressively’ assaulted the 25-year-old student, leaving her ‘shaking and in tears’ outside the Royal Thames Yacht Club in Knightsbridge, London.

Isleworth Crown Court heard from the distraught alleged victim and her friend Andrew Sutherland, 60, who both said the businessman ‘forcefully’ grabbed her between her legs in November 2018.

But Bonham Christie, who once held the off-shore powerboat world speed record and represented Great Britain in sailing until 2010, said the claims were ‘complete nonsense’.

He said he had arrived at the club to find ‘dregs’ from an earlier drinks reception.

When asked by the prosecutor if he thought the alleged victim was among the ‘dregs’, Bonham Christie said yes, before adding: ‘It’s like when you turn up at a picnic and the sandwiches are turned up on the side. I don’t wish to be rude, I’m just describing the situation.’

He said he had approached the pair when they popped outside the club for a cigarette to remonstrate with Mr Sutherland, who he claims had made derogatory comments about him using cocaine to a client.

Bonham Christie, pictured, admitted that while he had used the drug in the past, he was ‘fuming’ that he had been embarrassed by the fellow club member in front of one of his guests. He said of the woman’s claims: ‘It is nonsense, complete nonsense – all they want is for me to be thrown out of the club. I think they have got trapped in their lie.’ Bonham Christie told the court the exclusive club was like ‘home’ to him, as he had been visiting it since he was four and would accompany his parents wearing a jacket and tie to adhere to the dress code.

Bonham Christie is the scion of a wealthy family who formerly owned Brownsea Island off the coast of Dorset.

Asked to describe himself by his defence lawyer, Bonham Christie said: ‘ I’m a high achiever, I like to have fun, I work very hard, I like to win.’

The trial continues.