Oxford restaurateur Andy Hi Lo guilty of sexual assaults

Hugh ‘Andy’ Anderson, of Cowley Road, denied two counts of sexual assault by touching and stood trial at Oxford Crown Court this week.

However, a jury found the 74-year-old guilty of touching two different women over their clothing, one of whom was sexually assaulted on April 23 and the other on May 1, 2022.

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The jury delivered their guilty verdicts on Thursday afternoon (April 11) and Anderson was sentenced immediately after no pre-sentence report was sought by his defence team.

Judge Michael Gledhill handed the restaurateur a 52-week prison sentence, 26 weeks for each count, suspended for two years.

He was also ordered to pay £3,500 to the Crown Prosecution Service and was automatically made subject to the sexual offenders notification requirement register for 10 years.

It is unknown whether this will impact the licensing of his business in Cowley Road.

Hugh ‘Andy’ Anderson (Image: NQ)

As Anderson left the court, a friend could be seen patting him on the back and saying: “You’re a free man.”

During the trial, one of the victims explained how Anderson had groped her in the early hours of the morning.

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She said: "At one point I was getting some drinks 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."

The Hi Lo Jamaican eatery

Earlier in the trial, the partner of the second victim told the court that Anderson had similarly groped his girlfriend in the early hours of April 23.

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'."

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Anderson denied the allegations and said he did not touch the women and that they were ‘working with each other’ to accuse him.

He said: “She is lying. It’s the same pack of people accusing me. It’s the same bunch of people. They are working for each other, they are working together, that’s plain.” [sic]

Anderson is a well-known figure in Oxford and was previously friends with the young David Cameron who used to frequent the Hi-Lo.