The 49-year-old allegedly fondled a young waitress’s bottom in an exclusive Wembley Stadium suite after an England football match, Harrow crown court heard on Thursday reported The Evening Standard.
Dewsnip, of Castel, Guernsey, pulled the woman towards him, put one arm around her and groped her as she collected glasses following the match in September last year, the jury was told.
“He reached an arm out behind me, pulled me towards him and fondled my bum.
“He pulled me right up next to him and continued with the conversation and did not acknowledge what was happening.
“I felt unable to protest. I was working and we have to be polite and I tried not to make contact with him. It’s very hard to know how to react,” the alleged victim, a full-time student from London, told the jury.
Dewsnip, the founder and ex-chairman of Guernsey FC, was arrested when he returned to the same suite for an England v France friendly international a month later.
He pleaded not guilty and denied the allegation, adding that he had no recollection of touching anyone’s bottom, even accidentally.
Trial result
Dewsnip was cleared of any wrongdoing on 18 November after the jury at Harrow Crown Court took 30 minutes to reach a unanimous ‘not guilty’ verdict on one count of sexual assault, reports the BBC.
Speaking after the case, Dewsnip said: “I have the utmost respect for women and would never dream of behaving in the way portrayed in court.”
Collapsed Providence funds
Dewsnip resigned from his position as director at Providence in early August just weeks before Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) ordered the stricken fund to be wound up, deeming it insolvent.
In a further twist, Jersey’s financial services regulator shut down local IFA firm Lumiere Wealth,after an investigation into the sale of Providence Investment Funds to its clients.
As a result, Lumiere Wealth’s founder and managing director, Christopher Byrne was arrested in October, charged with a £1m ($1.2m, €1.1m) fraud linked to the funds.
In September, Providence Global, a majority owner of Lumiere, also came under fire for its links with Miami-based Providence Financial Investments for defrauding investors out of $64m.
In the same month, a group of British expats named Dewsnip in a lawsuit against NM Rothschild over a Spanish property scheme which allowed them to take out mortgage worth up to 75% of the value of their homes.
