Trial for man accused of inappropriately touching pensioner

Tuesday 22 June 2021

A 26-year-old man is on trial in the Royal Court this week, accused of sexually assaulting a woman in her 70s after she parked her mobility scooter.

Charley Mills is alleged to have assaulted the woman by touching her inappropriately and without her consent in the basement car park of a block of flats on 4 November last year.

Outlining the prosecution’s case, Crown Advocate Mike Preston told the jury in the trial, which is expected to last three days, that Mr Mills went to visit his ex-girlfriend, who lived in the same building, to find that she was out.

He then allegedly asked a resident in her 60s “for a cuddle”. She was so scared that she ran away and fell down some stairs, breaking a bone in her hand.

Advocate Preston then said Mr Mills returned to the car park, where he found two women returning their mobility scooters to a secure cage, where they were stored.

Mills then, he said, pressed up against one of the women, who was in her 70s, and put his hands under her jacket - one hand reaching inside her trousers to touch her bottom and the other, remaining outside, touching her front.

“It did not last long but it was sustained and deliberate,” said Advocate Preston. “As they left, the woman turned around to see him with his hands down his trousers, playing with himself.”

Mr Mills then allegedly followed the women to their third-floor landing. The woman in her 70s pulled her friend, who has since passed away, into her flat, locking the door and then dialling 999 to report the incident.

On the first day of the trial, the alleged victim took to the stand to give her account of events. 

She described Mills on that day as “creepy”, “intimidating” and a “dirty sod”. She added that he had stunk of drink and body odour. 

“He was very shifty,” she said. “He had his hoodie up and he just looked threatening. I felt physically sick; it was horrendous.” 

She said she had not shouted out as she was terrified, thinking that Mr Mills may have been carrying a knife. 

Cross-examining the witness, Advocate Julia-Ann Dix, defending, said that Mr Mills had been attempting to help the two women move their scooters and there had been a misunderstanding.

“Understandably, this was a frightening experience,” she said. “You were approached by a drunk, hooded, young man, in a dark car park and you immediately thought he had a knife. And you told the police in your statement that you thought he was stealing your handbag.

“Your fear led you to mistakenly think he was trying to touch you.”

The trial continues.