AN OXFORDSHIRE County Council team leader was yesterday convicted of sexually assaulting a woman in her bedroom.

Peter Brown, from the authority’s roads and transport team, was found guilty by Oxford Crown Court jurors after nine hours of deliberations.

His victim had told jurors that Brown, 56, had behaved inappropriately for months before groping her in her bedroom after he offered to fix her ensuite shower in September 2011.

Brown, of Drayton near Banbury, claimed he had only touched the woman’s leg in a supportive gesture.

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But the jury of three men and nine women convicted the Drayton Parish Council chairman with a majority verdict of 10 to two.

Brown, a born-again Christian, was released on bail following the verdict and will return to the court on Monday, November 3, to be sentenced after a pre-sentence report is prepared by the probation service.

But Judge Gordon Risius said before the adjournment that an immediate prison sentence was unlikely.

He said: “I can tell you straight away on the basis of what I know at the moment, the prospects of immediate custody are remote.

“I do not exclude it totally but it is only fair to say those prospects are remote.”

County council spokesman Owen Morton said: “We take this matter very seriously.

“Mr Brown is not currently at work pending disciplinary proceedings in the light of the court verdict. We cannot comment further.”


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