A FEMALE Man City fan has avoided jail time after groping a rival male fan during a Premier League game.
Jemma Whiteside, 40, grabbed the Everton supporter’s privates just before kick-off.
CavendishJemma Whiteside was found guilty of groping a rival male fan[/caption]
CavendishThe mum-of-six avoided jail time and was handed a community order[/caption]
The mum-of-six got drunk and also twerked on his shoulder before allegedly saying: “I am going to f*** him later, and I don’t even know his name.”
Despite the victim urging the court to treat women sex attackers the same as men, Whiteside was only handed a nine-month community order.
Left feeling “shocked and upset”, the man said in a statement: “It should not matter whether the assault was by a man or a woman, it should be treated the same.”
He reported the incident to police after the match in February this year.
When Whiteside, of Worsley, Greater Manchester, was asked about the incident she said: “No offence to Liverpool but a Scouse man is not something that I would want or need.”
At Sefton magistrates court she was told she could be facing up to ten years in jail after a trial found her guilty of sexual assault.
However, Whiteside was only given the order and told she must also carry out 15 days of rehabilitation activity.
She was fined £495 and ordered to pay the victim £400 after the judge said people ”in drink people can and often do things which are very out of character.”
The victim, who is in his 40s, said: “I was looking out towards the concourse when a female came up behind me, put her hand between my legs and grabbed hold of my testicles.
“She then shouted ‘I am going to f*** him later, and I don’t even know his name.’
“She went one step up of a flight of stairs so she was slightly higher and put her bum on my shoulder and then walked off.
“I was shocked. I looked at a colleague and he looked at me and I said: “‘Did that just happen?’
”I walked down and found the police and described what happened shortly after.
“I described the female and I told him I knew where she was sitting. Her hand had gone between my legs and went up and cupped my testicles.
”She was directly behind me and she then took a step up when she rubbed her bum on my shoulder. I was shocked.”
PC Mark McGinty who arrested Whiteside in the stands said: “The female was very drunk. You could tell by the way she was behaving in her seat.
“She was moving her arms about erratically, leaning over the barrier and trying to grab at people below, shouting at them and shouting towards the pitch.
“Her speech was very slurred, she was unsteady on her feet and her eyes were glazed.
“I was under the impression that she was very drunk.”
SEX ATTACK
In her police interview, Whiteside said she was ”mortified” at being arrested for sexual assault.
Whiteside told the court: “If I was walking past I may have brushed past him.
“It was a football match, it was a crowded place, it is easy to happen, to brush past someone.”
District Judge James Clarke said: “The victim on this occasion said he felt contact – and it was quite an unusual and unexpected type of contact.
”He said in his original statement that he was touched on the buttocks, testicles and the penis. In his evidence he said only testicles but it is all part of the intimate area. His response was one of disbelief.
“Clearly the words: ‘I will have him later and I don’t even know his name’, is a curious thing for the victim to misinterpret or invent if that is what is suggested he did.
“In drink people can and often do things which are very out of character.
“I am sure the lady had been drinking during the course of the afternoon.
“She was a lady in high spirits who was hurried by her friends and taking last sips of alcohol in the process.
“The complainant gave a credible account in my assessment. It was not something that could be misunderstood or mistaken.
“I am not convinced it is something he made up. The defendant was a joker, and this is a prank that has gone very badly wrong whilst committed in drink and perhaps showing off to friends on the occasion.”
Senior Crown Prosecutor Mike O’Kane said the assault was “unprovoked and entirely unexpected”.
He said: “The incident caused both upset and embarrassment to the victim.
“He further noted in his victim personal statement which was read at the sentencing hearing that ‘it should not matter whether the assault was by a man or a woman, it should be treated the same’.
“The Crown Prosecution Service would echo that. Men do fall victim to sexual assaults and are entitled to protection under the law.”