Glaenzer warned not to tape court hearing

THE venture capitalist Stefan Glaenzer was warned by a judge not to tape court proceedings as he pleaded not guilty to a charge of sexual assault.

Mr Glaenzer, 60, was entering the dock at Isleworth Crown Court when the dock officer supervising him ordered him to empty his pockets.

“The tape was on, it was taping,” the officer said, pointing to Mr Glaenzer’s smartphone. She removed the device from the German tech investor and handed it to his solicitor. It is against the law to record proceedings without the court’s permission.

Her Honour Judge Karen Holt warned the defendant: “Your phone should always be turned off before you get into the dock. In fact, before you come into this court.”

Mr Glaenzer, a co-founder of taxpayer-backed investment fund Passion Capital, is charged with one count of sexual assault said to have taken place on June 9 2021 at shared offices in Notting Hill, west London.

Louise Sweet, QC, defending, said “two or three” witnesses would be called to testify on her client’s behalf at next year’s trial. Police arrested Mr Glaenzer in September 2021 following a complaint made that June. He was formally charged in March this year.

Mr Glaenzer is accused of thrusting himself into the complainant’s buttocks as she leaned over a dishwasher.

The tech investor is a former chairman of music streaming site Last.fm who has earned millions of pounds from his investments in start-up tech companies during the late 2000s and 2010s.

Crown prosecutor Ravinder Johal did not oppose Mr Glaenzer’s unconditional bail.

Wearing a blue jumper, open-necked shirt and blue jeans, Mr Glaenzer spoke only to confirm his name and to confirm his not guilty plea, first entered at Westminster magistrates’ court in April.