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Wakefield Cathedral verger cleared of groping woman UPDATED
Nicholas Whitaker.
A verger was today found not guilty of groping a woman in a cathedral.
A jury at Leeds Crown Court took less than 30 minutes to clear Nicholas Whitaker of sexually assaulting the woman in Wakefield Cathedral.
He looked relieved as he thanked his barrister and supporters outside court, but declined to comment.
Mr Whitaker, 34, who is openly gay, denied fondling the woman’s breasts as she stood talking to the head verger in Wakefield Cathedral.
The incident is alleged to have happened moments before an ordination service last July.
Mr Whitaker said he was “shocked” and “mortified” when informed that a woman had made an allegation of sexual assault against him.
He told the jury: “I thought it would be a fun idea to go behind her and give her a brief hug from behind and say ‘hello’.”
Mr Whitaker, a former housemaster at a Berkshire school and a music graduate from Edinburgh University, demonstrated to the jury how he hugged the woman.
He said his hands were closed and if he did brush against her chest it was “unintentional”.
“I would have no reason to touch her breasts, no wish to touch her breasts,” he said.
He said hugging someone with “open hands” was an intimate gesture.
“I would never dream of doing that, it’s inconceivable,” he added.
He said the hug lasted about two seconds - “the time it takes to say ‘morning chuck’.”
Mr Whitaker, who was a part-time verger and who sang in the choir, denied sexual assault.
Yesterday the woman at the centre of the allegation told the court: “He put his arms underneath my arms and just grabbed hold of my bust and groped and felt and squeezed. It was awful.”
The woman later reported the incident to the police and Mr Whitaker, of Richmond Road, St John’s, Wakefield, was charged with sexual assault.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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