Spa owner in tears after being cleared of sex assault on man
A HEALTH spa owner accused of drunkenly massaging a male customer’s thighs while wearing a bikini has been cleared of sexual assault.
Kerry Brocklebank, 43, was alleged to have repeatedly rubbed down the man despite his protestations at Huntingdon Spa and UK Sports Massage in Cambridgeshire on October 11.
While admitting to being “tipsy” and in swimwear at the time, she denied the charge – insisting she only touched the man’s calf muscles, which are not an “erogenous sexual zone”.
Following a trial at Cambridge Crown Court, Brocklebank, who lives at the spa, was cleared by the jury of six men and six women of sexual assault, an alternative charge of battery, and perverting the course of justice.
Brocklebank, who broke down while telling the jury how the accusation had wrecked her life, hugged relatives in relief as she left the courtroom.
Prosecutor Stephen Mather suggested Brocklebank had touched the alleged victim for her sexual gratification, a claim she denied.
She said she had earlier flirted with the keen runner and called him “darling” as he waited for a sports massage from therapist Henry Godfree, but claimed there was no attraction.
The trial heard that the qualified sports therapist had been “just a little bit tipsy”, having drunk a glass of prosecco and two flutes of champagne while celebrating a friend’s birthday.
Brocklebank said she had expected to find the sports massage room empty when she went in dressed in a “quite boring, conservative” polka dot swimming costume, in order to fetch some dry towels.
She told the court she was alarmed to find the alleged victim lying the wrong way without a towel, because Mr Godfree had a history of inappropriate behaviour.