THE owner of Cowley Road's Hi Lo Jamaican Eating House restaurant is on trial accused of sexually assaulting two women.
Proceedings have started at Oxford Crown Court this week for Hugh 'Andy' Anderson, 74, of Cowley Road, who has pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual assault by touching.
It is alleged that he touched two different women over their clothing, one of whom was said to have been sexually assaulted on April 23 and the other on May 1, 2022.
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The second victim gave evidence in court yesterday, crying from the stand as she explained how Anderson allegedly groped her in the early hours of the morning.
She said she was working at a bar until the early hours of the morning and went to the Hi Lo bar at about 2am with her colleagues as it was the only place open on Cowley Road.
"At one point I was getting some drinks," she said.
"I was walking to get to the bar and I was stopped and a conversation started with this gentleman.
"I can't remember how the conversation started but I couldn't hear him and he suggested I came closer to him.
"I stepped forward to hear him and then he put his hand around the back of my bum and then he shoved it up and then he groped me.
"He kept saying, 'F*** me' and I stepped back and pretended I couldn't hear him – and I kept saying sorry."
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The woman began crying on the stand before telling the jury she had returned to the table with her friends.
"From then on, I sat there and there and every time I glanced over to him, he was looking at me and he would say the words, 'F*** me'," she continued.
The jury heard that she then left the restaurant at about 5.30am and told her father the next day – who promptly called the police.
Earlier during the trial, the jury heard from the partner of the first alleged victim, who told the court that Anderson had allegedly groped his girlfriend in the early hours of April 23.
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He said: "[She looked] very distressed. She said, 'He just touched me' and I asked how and she showed me and said, 'I've never been touched like that in my life'."
Anderson is a well-known figure in Oxford and was previously friends with the young David Cameron who used to frequent the Hi-Lo while at university.
Anderson has denied the offences.
He has bail during the trial which continues this week.
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