City grandee Crispin Odey ‘lunged’ at woman, court hears
Hedge fund multimillionaire Crispin Odey “lunged” at a young woman and groped her breast during an alleged assault more than 20 years ago, a court heard today.
Odey, 62, has denied a single charge of indecent assault at Hendon magistrates’ court in North London.
Prosecutor Kerry Broome told the court that Odey accepted he propositioned a woman in 1998, but denied assaulting her, The Times reported.
At the time of the alleged assault, the woman was a junior colleague at a City investment bank. She had attended a client meeting with Odey Asset Management in Mayfair, and was invited to return later to meet privately with Odey.
The court heard she agreed to return in the hope meeting such a prominent City figure might “further her career”.
Broome said the woman, aged 26 at the time, went to Odey’s offices, where he, at the time 39, suggested they go to a nearby pub. The pub was crowded, so he proposed going to his house in Chelsea, where they went together in a taxi.
At Odey’s house the hedge fund manager said he was going to change, and returned shortly afterwards, having showered. The court heard the woman was sitting in a booth-type seat by a table, and he sat beside her, effectively blocking her in.
Broome told the court: “He lunged at her and put his hand on her breast down her shirt. His other hand was on her back then he put a hand up her skirt. This is the physical contact the Crown says constituted an assault,” the Times reported.
The court heard the woman struggled away from Odey and managed to get outside the house. She then caught a passing taxi and went to her then boyfriend’s home.
Broome told the court: “She remembers being frightened but she also remembers wondering what would happen to her career.”
The next day the woman complained to three senior colleagues at the bank she worked at, but it was another year until she reported the incident to the bank during a separate investigation into an alleged assault by a different client while at a client hospitality event during the Rugby World Cup.
Odey has denied assaulting the woman. He told police he had misjudged the situation and had been “foolish”, but denied the alleged assault.
The trial continues.