Former councillor sentenced for sexual assault

A former city councillor has been given a two-year suspended sentence for sexually assaulting a colleague.

Lee Hawthorne, 44, was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on Monday morning after being found guilty of assaulting a woman on at least four occasions between 31 December 2018 and 1 June 2019.

Hawthorne, of Filbert Close, Gloucester, had denied the offences.

He was a Conservative Gloucester city councillor for four years up until April 2020.

Hawthorne was also ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work, and will remain on the sex offenders' register for 10 years.

He will have to pay his victim £1,000 in compensation and attend 30 rehabilitation sessions with the probation service.

Hawthorne was found guilty in May of intentionally touching his victim sexually on four occasions, without consent.

He also sent the woman a picture of himself in his underwear.

Sentencing, judge HHJ Townsend said the relationship between Hawthorne and his victim had initially been "good".

"There may have been an element of flirtatious conduct, but clearly came a stage in 2018 when she made absolutely plain she didn't want you to touch her in any way," the judge said.

"You understand that because you did stop, but then started to resume your behaviour and attempted to justify that by suggesting that her behaviour encouraged it.

"That attempt of blaming her shows your sense of entitlement, in my view, that you also exhibited by committing voyeurism at the same time."

At the start of the trial, the jury heard Hawthorne had a past criminal conviction for offences of 'upskirting' in 2021, for which he was given a nine-month suspended sentence.

He had secretly taken a video under a woman's clothing in an office and had also committed a similar voyeurism offence against a woman shopping in TK Maxx.

Regarding the sexual assaults, Judge Townsend continued: "The fact you may have believed it was consensual does not excuse your persistence and it made her life in the office very difficult indeed."

The judge commended the victim for her "courage".

"Anyone who is tempted to believe offending like this is unimportant only has to hear the victim impact statement to see how serious it is," he said.

In a statement to the court, the victim said Hawthorne's crimes had affected various aspects of her life, including her work, physical health, and her relationship.

"I used to dread going into the office, changing my appointments, checking who else would be in the office and moving my seat to make it harder for him to get closer to me," she said.

"During this time, I contemplated leaving on numerous occasions and I often felt very isolated because nobody else knew what was happening."

Despite this, the victim said that - after the former councillor's suspension and arrest - it "became harder" as she was "scared" of people finding out and not believing her.

"When I told my friends at work, their support became invaluable, particularly those that recognised what had happened to me and supported me through the process of telling other people."

Judge Townsend said Hawthorne had caused "serious physical and psychological harm" for the victim, triggering migraines, heart palpitations and anxiety.

The judge said a suspended sentence was appropriate as he felt Hawthorne did not carry a high risk of reoffending, and had been trying rehabilitation.

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