A top official of the Welsh Assembly government in the United Kingdom, Graham Evans, heading the highways department has been accused of assaulting Christine Davies, a former employee of the government.
The explosive case kicked off against Evans – a part-time Welsh Football League referee – at the county court in Cardiff last week, reports Western Mail.Evans, of course, denies all the claims.
But in a sensational witness statement, Mrs Davies – who is seeking up to £15,000 in damages for assault and harassment – broke down in tears in court as she accused Evans of - Sexually assaulting her in a ladies’ pub loo, groping, squeezing and fondling her at work, fantasising about her being his “tarty waitress,” begging her for sex and whispering lewd comments in her ear, plaguing her with telephone calls and home visits.
Mrs Davies, 52, who lives in Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, with her husband Paul, claims Evans began to harass her over 20 years ago in the 1980s when they first worked together in the housing division of the Welsh Office.
In her statement, she claims that during the two to three years they worked together, she was subjected to sexual advances by Evans, all of which she says she rejected.
Mrs Davies, who claims she was forced to take ill health retirement in March 2006, said: “At that time I was continually harassed by him and was subject to frequent inappropriate touching and verbal abuse of a sexual nature.
“He would typically approach me in the office, put his arm around my shoulder and with the palm of his other hand rub my arm whilst speaking to me.
“His comments usually fell into the following categories, either a reference to a part of my body, such as how much he liked looking at my legs or something more blatantly sexual in nature, such as what he would do to me if only I would allow him, or a softly and slowly spoken but threatening type of sexual remark, such as that he was going to ‘have’ me one day and that I should make no mistake about that.
“Also I recall how sometimes in the office and especially if we happened to be close... he would slowly gaze up and down my body as though he was mentally undressing me, smiling as he did so.”
Mrs Davies said she regularly organised cheese and wine parties for work colleagues which Evans attended.
She said: “At one of these Graham Evans suddenly announced out loud to everyone that he thought I would make an excellent tarty waitress,” adding she was “humiliated and upset by the remark”.
Davies and Evans were relocated from the Welsh Office’s housing division to separate departments of the highways directorate in 1987.
But Mrs Davies claims the harassment recommenced after Evans became her senior in 2002.
She claims: “There were occasions when he kissed my ear. When he would do this I would shrug him off and ask him politely to go away. I was embarrassed and uncomfortable with his behaviour but I did not want to jeopardise my promotion prospects.”
She claims while the advances continued, Evans telephoned her regularly and visited her at home.
She adds: “I made it clear to Graham that I had absolutely no interest in him other than of a professional nature.”
Mrs Davies claims he constantly bombarded her with telephone calls.
She said: “I took to leaving the answering machine on in the evening and always at the weekend.”
It was during a lunchtime celebration at Gassy Jacks pub in Cathays, Cardiff, on July 18, 2003 that Mrs Davies claims to have been assaulted by him while she was using the toilet.
In her statement, she says: “I was almost at the bottom of the stairs when I heard footsteps running down behind me.
“The next thing I felt two hands on my shoulders and I was being spun around and pushed against the wall. It was Graham Evans.
“He pinned my left shoulder hard against the wall with his right hand and pushed his face within inches of mine.
“He was grinning and laughing at me and I could feel his breath on my face. I was wrestling with his left hand which he had forced inside my overshirt touching my flesh. I could feel his fingertips touching the base of my bra.
“I gripped his wrist and tried to push it away from my body. I repeated, ‘Please stop Graham – get off me’.
“Graham said, ‘I want a kiss before I let you go’.
“He pushed his left hand down the waistband of my trousers. I was struggling. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I begged him to stop but Graham Evans kept laughing and said he would stop if I gave him a kiss.”
Mrs Davies claims Evans released her after she kissed him before she locked herself in the toilet.
In her statement, she claims: “I knew if I did not do so, I would be assaulted further.”
She added: “I sat on the toilet seat shaking and close to tears. I wanted to scream. I was terrified by what had taken place.”
An internal investigation was carried out by the Assembly Government after she filed a complaint in September 2003. Evans was cleared after the inquiry concluded there was insufficient evidence against him.
In court giving evidence on Friday, Evans denied the allegations of assault at Gassy Jacks. He said he had used the gents toilets but said he had no idea where Mrs Davies was at that time.
He said he had never had any other complaints of sexual harassment or assault levelled against him by anyone else.
The Welsh Assembly Government declined to comment on the case which is continuing.
Source-Medindia
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