Overview
- The trial at Southwark Crown Court opened with prosecutors saying a serving Metropolitan Police inspector, Dave Newman, grabbed, groped, stroked and pinched three female colleagues on a Soho bar dancefloor.
- One complainant gave evidence behind a screen that she froze when the defendant placed his hand on her groin above clothing while another described being ground against then touched on her waist and vagina above clothing.
- The prosecution told jurors that all officers were off duty during the incident, a fact it said helped create the alleged opportunity for unwanted touching.
- Newman, 39 and from Luton, has denied three counts of sexual assault and did not answer questions in his police interview, and the trial is continuing.
- The three alleged victims cannot be named under UK law and any conviction could lead to both criminal penalties and separate Metropolitan Police professional disciplinary action.