Rocky Horror trio slammed by judge

Catherine Kerslake

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Women on night out accused man of sex assault
THREE sexily dressed Rocky Horror girls gave a terrified Oldham clubgoer a fright to remember — by trying to frame him as a dancefloor groper.

Neil Davies was wrongly arrested by police after the three women — dressed in skimpy stockings and suspenders — falsely claimed he had squeezed the breast and bottom of one of them during a night out.

Davies was kept in police cells for 18 hours before being released without charge when officers became suspicious of the women’s account.

Police seized CCTV footage showing two of the women punching Davies in the street. He suffered a cut to his lip, swelling to the right eye and tenderness to his left ear.

Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, heard the incident occurred in March last year after pals Natasha Smith (19), Claire Hancock (22) and Catherine Kerslake (18) got dressed up as the Rocky horror Show’s cult lead character Frank N Furter for a night out in Oldham.

Mr Davies was also out with pals and had “consumed a large amount of alcohol” before going to a takeaway at 2am where they bumped into the women and had an exchange of words with Hancock.

Jonathan Savage, prosecuting, said: “Hancock and Kerslake followed Neil Davies along the road and in the course of that journey intermittently they pursued him and threw punches and slaps to his head.”

Police tried to intervene but the women said they wanted Davies arrested for “comments” he was said to have made earlier. When the police said no action would be taken, the two women continued to chase after Davies.

“Smith made the allegation that she had been sexually assaulted in the night club by Neil Davies and as a consequence he was arrested.

“The three defendants made their statements and all three gave differing accounts as to how Neil Davies had first become aggressive and they alleged violence towards them once they left the night club.

“Smith maintained the allegation that she had been sexually assaulted by him. Hancock said she could see it clearly.”

Kerslake, of Ash Street, Middleton, and Hancock, of Palmer Close, Oldham, pleaded guilty to common assault and perverting the course of justice.

Kerslake was ordered to do 40 hours of unpaid work and remain on a curfew for a month from 9pm to 6am, and Hancock was ordered to complete 60 hours of unpaid work with the same curfew order.

Smith, of Cardwell Street, Oldham, was ordered to complete 80 hours of community service after pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice. A fourth woman was given 40 hours of community service after pleading guilty to perverting justice at an earlier hearing.

In mitigation for Smith, defence counsel Henry Blackshaw said: “She was dressed in a scant and provocative manner. This was Oldham in premises full of drunk young men including Neil Davies.”

Defending Hancock and Kerslake, Mr Andrew Smith said: “They were clearly drunk — that had a significant impact on their conduct.”

In passing sentence, the judge Mr Recorder Phillip Cattan said: “You probably had too much to drink and you managed to behave disgracefully.

“As a result of that Neil Davies who may or may not have said things that offended you but he suffered some injury and he went through the ordeal of being in custody for 18 hours because of Smith alleging he had sexually assaulted her.

“It was a disgraceful thing to accuse a man of something he hadn’t done. I hope you are all ashamed of yourselves.”