James Douglas Swan, 38, accused of sex act (From The Northern Echo)

James Douglas Swan, 38, accused of sex act

8:59am Tuesday 15th December 2009

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A MARRIED father indecently assaulted a visitor to his home after pouring out his heart to her about his personal life, a court heard yesterday.

James Douglas Swan, 38, is alleged to have performed a sex act in front of the teenager and grabbed her breast as she sat on a sofa on February 27 this year.

A jury at Teesside Crown Court heard that Mr Swan then muttered some “rather bizarre” words before going to the kitchen to get another glass of wine for himself.

Richard Bennett, prosecuting, said the father-of-two said “random . . . strange . . . random”

before the shocked girl got up and left the house.

Within an hour-and-a-half, the teenager had told a friend about what had happened, and she advised the alleged victim to tell a teacher, Mr Bennett told the jury.

The girl sent her teacher an email which said: “Can I come to speak to you as soon as possible, because something has happened and I really don’t know what to do.”

The member of staff spoke to the teenager at school, police were called, and Mr Swan, from Rookhope, near Bishop Auckland, County Durham, was arrested.

Mr Swan, who denies the charges, is facing a trial, which is expected to last three days, over allegations of sexual assault and causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.

The jury was told by Mr Bennett: “The issue in this case is not whether there was consent or not, but whether this took place at all.

“The prosecution case is that it did. The defence case is that it did not.”

The jury was told that the alleged incidents happened after Mr Swan spoke about matters connected to his marriage.

The case continues.

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