The trial of Mr Nigel Bishop took place on Wednesday 10th November in the Summary Court. He had previous pleaded not guilty to one charge of a sexual assault.

It was alleged that on the 29th June this year Nigel Bishop walked past the complainant and touched her without consent in a sexual way.

Mr Bishop had accepted that he touched the complainant but said he had briefly tapped her on the hips, while the complainant maintained that Mr Bishop had put his hands on her bottom.

In the day long trial the court watched CCTV footage and heard from a number of witnesses including the complainant who gave evidence from behind a screen.

She told the court how she had felt embarrassed and didn’t know what to do following the incident.

Prosecuting Mr Stuart Walker told the court that Mr Bishop had “made a catastrophic error of judgement.”

In defence Ms Alison Ingles countered this by asking the court “what reason would Mr Bishop have to behave in such a way as the complainant says he did.”

After a prolonged period of deliberation the Justices of the Peace delivered a guilty verdict.

Mr Bishop was released on bail and will be sentenced on the 1st December after a pre-sentence report has been completed.