Drunk banker ‘put head between woman’s breasts in bar assault’
A DRUNK banker burrowed his head into a woman’s cleavage during a night out before inviting her to slap his face in retaliation for his ‘unacceptable’ actions, a court heard yesterday.
While his victim recoiled in horror 25-year-old Christaggelis Christoforou tried to pass off the alleged assault as a ‘bit of fun’. He then lunged forward and grabbed the woman’s breasts in front of shocked friends and work colleagues, it was claimed.
The Old Bailey heard the actions of the banker are commonly referred to as ‘motorboating’. The practice sees a man place his face between a woman’s breasts before rap- shaking his head from side to side and is accompanied by yelling. The resulting sound is said to be similar to that of an outboard motor.
Christoforou’s alleged assault on the woman took place at the Be At One cocktail bar in the City of London on the evening of January 28.
At the time he was working as a consultant and contractor for the top city bank JP Morgan.
Immediately after he was captured on CCTV ‘motorboating’ the woman he could be seen laughing and then reached out to ‘have another go’ before inviting the woman to slap his face, and she did so.
The woman – who does not drink alcohol and cannot be named for legal reasons – was disgusted by the actions of Christoforou and later complained to police the banker had been ‘offensive and vulgar’ throughout the evening.
The woman told the court she had repeatedly pushed her attacker away ‘forcefully’.
She said: ‘I didn’t like that kind of approach, but he told me I had no sense of humour and it was just a bit of fun.’
But the prosecutor pointed out that ‘just a bit of fun is not a defence’.
Christoforou, from South Croydon, South London, had also boasted about having a new job during the evening. He denies one charge of sexual assault and his trial continues.