A SIDCUP man has been cleared of indecently assaulting a woman as they travelled home from a college ball.
Colin Goddard, aged 21, of Stanhope Road, Sidcup, had pleaded not guilty at Croydon Crown Court to the assault which was alleged to have taken place on May 4 last year.
The court heard Mr Goddard and fellow students had been to a celebration ball at the Bridge Club in London, to mark the end of a three-year college course.
One girl student, now a management consultant, decided to drive home, taking Mr Goddard and another male student with her.
She alleged Mr Goddard, who was sitting in the rear passenger seat behind her, began massaging her shoulders but then began touching, then squeezing her breasts.
She told the court: "I asked him to stop but he didn't." She said she made it clear his actions were distracting her from driving.
When they arrived at their destination, she claimed she knelt on the driver's seat to unfasten the seat belt of her drunken front seat passenger and Mr Goddard had put his hand up the skirt of her ballgown and assaulted her again.
Goddard told the jury the woman's story was untrue.
January 27, 2003 18:30
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