City trader on f light home from honeymoon ‘groped student in seat next to him’
She says: It was 2-hour ordeal. He says: I caress wife in my sleep
A CITY trader accused of groping a young student when flying home from his hawaii honeymoon told a jury that if he stroked the woman’s thigh it was in his sleep.
Robert Jan Van Den Bergh, 37, who specialises in the electricity and power markets, told Isleworth Crown Court: ‘I did not at any point intentionally touch the complainant during the flight.’
Van Den Bergh, of hackney, east London, was returning from a two-week honeymoon in Maui on board a United Airlines flight bound for heathrow. his lawyer wife was on another pre-booked flight.
he said it was unlikely, but possible, that he moved in his sleep during the overnight New Year’s eve flight from Los Angeles. ‘My wife makes fun of me that I move or caress her in my sleep, but I have no recollection of it,’ he told the trial.
however, he insisted even that was unlikely: ‘This isn’t something I would expect myself to do in a strange environment in my sleep.’
earlier the young economics student, who was sitting next to Van Den Bergh in a window seat, told the jury: ‘It started in the middle of my thigh, but moved around for one-and-a-half to two hours.
‘I was too scared to look and sort of trapped in the seat and not sure what to do.’ Van Den Bergh had seen her take two sleeping pills before take-off and joked they could render her unconscious.
‘I’m quite chatty and did have a friendly chat. It’s an uncomfortable position to be in for so long, so I like a more relaxed atmosphere.’
The young woman was sitting on his right and Van Den Bergh said: ‘There was someone watching action films to my left, which causes a lot of flashing on the screen and that may have caused me to move to my right.’ he claimed he was sleeping when the young woman nudged him to leave her seat.
‘She then made her complaint to the cabin crew.
‘I was approached by a member of the crew and he asked me to meet him in the kitchen area.
‘he said the lady had complained about inappropriate touching and I said I had no recollection. I returned to my seat a bit shocked. Never in my life have I been accused of touching a woman.
‘All I could think of was that I got in the way, asleep with my arms moving, and she got annoyed.
‘The police marched in. There were two police officers and I think they were armed.
‘They shouted out my name and then they asked me to join them on the bridge. It was not a nice experience.’
The passenger sitting to Van Den Bergh’s left, retired pastor Margaret Yun, was asked if she could have observed any groping.
She said: ‘I think I would have. Slight movements I wouldn’t have.’ She told the court the young woman confided in her and said: ‘Did you see? he groped me.’
Van Den Bergh was questioned by heathrow police, who put the groping allegation to him. he told them: ‘I can say one hundred per cent sure when I was awake I didn’t do that.’ he added: ‘I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.’
Van Den Bergh’s wife is expected to give evidence on his behalf.
he has pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual assault on the flight between December 31, 2019 and January 1, 2020.
The trial continues.