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Jurors out in 'bottom slap' case Officer cleared of 'bottom slap'
(about 2 hours later)
A jury has retired to consider whether a Thames Valley police sergeant sexually assaulted two female colleagues at a barbecue A Thames Valley police sergeant has been cleared of sexually assaulting two female colleagues at a barbecue.
Mark Downing, 39, of Tilehurst in Reading, Berks, allegedly told one woman her bottom was "perky" before slapping it while drunk at a barbecue. It was alleged Mark Downing, 39, of Tilehurst in Reading, Berkshire, told one woman her bottom was "perky" before slapping it while drunk.
Swindon Crown Court heard that Mr Downing said: "If you are bending over, it's there to be slapped." But at Swindon Crown Court on Thursday the jury found him not guilty of three counts of sexual assault.
Mr Downing denies three counts of sexual assault. The sergeant remains suspended from his job pending internal disciplinary proceedings by Thames Valley Police.
'Advances not welcome' It took jurors an hour-and-a-half to clear Mr Downing, who denied all the accusations.
On Wednesday, the court heard how at the same barbecue in Slough, on 6 July last year, he grabbed another woman officer's waist, saying: "You and me, outside". During his three-day trial, the prosecution claimed he told the woman "If you are bending over, it's there to be slapped".
Christopher Smyth, prosecuting, told the court that on an earlier occasion, at a pub in Eton, he allegedly put his hand under the second woman constable's top and touched her bottom. At the same barbecue in Slough on 6 July last year, Mr Downing was also accused of grabbing another woman officer's waist and said "you and me, outside."
Mr Smyth said Mr Downing's advances had not been welcomed by the women, who cannot be named for legal reasons. On an earlier occasion, at a pub in Eton, he was said to have put his hand under the second female constable's top and touched the top of her bottom, prosecutor Christopher Smyth said.
Judge Douglas Field sent the jury of seven men and five women out to begin deliberations at 1130 BST. But Laura McQuitty, defending, said the two women, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had never intended to make a complaint.
She said one had been distressed but it was "about giving evidence, not because of the incident."