A STRIPPER has been found guilty of sexual assault after he “jiggled the breasts” of a solicitor during a performance at her hen party.
Stuart Kennedy, who was dressed as a firefighter, had been hired by the woman’s sister for the prosecco and pizza bash at a hotel in Perthshire, Scotland.
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The 42-year-old reportedly groped the bride’s breasts and forced her legs open despite her repeatedly telling him: “No thank you”.
The stripper has now been placed on the Sex Offenders Register and warned he could face time behind bars after it was revealed he was previously convicted of a similar act.
He deferred Kennedy’s sentence and continued his bail – rejecting a Crown motion to ban the man from working as a stripper as an additional condition.
Sheriff Paul Reid found Kennedy guilty of two charges and told Perth Sheriff Court: “I am satisfied he did touch her breasts. Her evidence was clear and corroborated.”
He told the court Kennedy had not acted inside the law when he failed to seek the appropriate consent for his actions.
The sheriff also said it was clear the hen was “deeply uncomfortable” with the performance – adding she had not “consented to being touched in that manner”.
He said: “His activity towards the complainer from when she sat in the chair in the middle of the room was plainly sexual.
“She did not give her free agreement to what happened, simulated oral sex, being made to drink out of a penis-shaped straw, or touching his fake penis.
“I am not satisfied he took any reasonable steps to ascertain consent was continuing throughout his performance.”
The sheriff continued: “It is a narrow decision. On the facts of this case he did not have consent for what he did. If she consented, or he had reasonable belief that she did, no crime would have been committed.
“The onus is on the person in Mr Kennedy’s position to check they have consent for what they are doing. He did not do what was required of him by law.”
Kennedy told the trial his stripping firefighter act was “a beautiful gift” and that he had performed more than 4,000 shows over 19 years as a “professional entertainer.”
He said: “I see my work as a craft. It’s a premium service. I do it to the absolute best of my ability. No-one’s ever stormed off. I’ve never had a show been stopped.”
I didn’t touch her breasts. That could be suicide and ruin the business
Stuart Kennedy
Describing himself as “a consummate professional”, Kennedy said: “It is all about reputation and you have to be spotless. Your reputation is so important to you and I have only ever had nothing but good reviews.”
In response, public prosecutor Jennifer Bairner, told the court he was already a convicted sex offender.
She told how he was found guilty of an identical offence while carrying out another show in his firefighter persona.
Kennedy later told the court he felt the hen was happy to play along with the show.
He described her as “no shrinking violet” and “quite a force to be reckoned with” and said he believed her consent had only been withdrawn when she fled to the bathroom.
No-one’s ever stormed off. I’ve never had a show been stopped
Kennedy
The Bridge of Don local also denied “jiggling her breasts” and said they may have been moving around as she waved her hands in the air while he carried out a spoof search for “explosives.”
He said: “She jiggled her arms a bit which – in a larger woman – can cause jiggling.
“I didn’t touch her breasts. That could be suicide and ruin the business. One bad review and it’s over.”
He admitted he had been asked to leave before taking any of his clothes off.
FEELING ‘VIOLATED’
The hen also said in her evidence she was “cringing away from constantly” and had tried to make clear she was “not a willing participant”.
She added: “He forced his hands between my thighs to open my legs. I resisted it but I was also frightened by now. His first move was to make me simulate giving him oral sex.
“I started to comply with him because I didn’t know what he was going to do next. He still had his trousers on. He had sewn a fake erection into the crotch. It felt like a bean bag.
“He was fiddling with the button on my shirt at one point. At my cleavage. There was more grinding against my thigh. I was trying to keep my legs together.”
When he was not near me I bolted towards the door
Victim
She told the court Kennedy “violated” her and licked her nose with his tongue – although she said it was not intentional as he was simulating kissing her.
The woman also told how he “jiggled” her breasts and made her drink through a penis-shaped straw during the party in March last year.
She said when he at first burst into the luxury hotel in Scotland, she “started crying and panicking” before realising she would have to “grin and bear it”.
But she said after Kennedy allegedly groped her, some of her hens “gasped” and were “all panicking”.
The woman continued: “When he was not near me I bolted towards the door.
I was crying hysterically and screaming and grabbing my hair
Victim
“I made it to the bathroom. I was physically sick. I vomited in the toilet. I was crying hysterically and screaming and grabbing my hair.”
Her middle sister, who paid around £400 to Aberdeen-based AlphaMale Strippers & Butlers to hire Kennedy, said she immediately realised it was a mistake.
She told the trial she “one hundred per cent” had regrets about booking the performer.
But the woman’s younger sister later told police Kennedy had done a “Magic Mike sort of thing” and put his legs over the bride-to-be.
She said she believed the way the stripper “stormed in” may have “triggered” her sibling and explained she got upset and left when Kennedy started “dry humping” her.
The sister continued: “I enjoyed myself and I don’t remember anything you wouldn’t expect from a stripper at a hen party.”
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