Former Gloucester councillor convicted of sexual assault

A former city councilor has been sentenced to two years’ probation for sexually abusing a colleague.

Lee Hawthorne, 44, was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on Monday morning after being found guilty of assaulting a woman on at least four occasions between December 31, 2018 and June 1, 2019.

Hawthorne, of Filbert Close, Gloucester, had denied the offences.

He served as a Conservative councillor in Gloucester for four years until April 2020.

Hawthorne was also sentenced to 150 hours of unpaid work and will remain on the sex offenders’ register for ten years.

He must pay his victim £1,000 compensation and attend 30 rehabilitation sessions with the probation service.

Hawthorne was found guilty in May of intentionally sexually touching his victim four times without her consent.

He also sent the woman a picture of himself in his underwear.

Passing sentence, Judge HHJ Townsend said the relationship between Hawthorne and his victim had initially been “good”.

“There may have been an element of flirtatious behavior, but in 2018 it got to the point where she made it absolutely clear that she did not want to be touched by you under any circumstances,” the judge said.

“You understand this because you stopped and then resumed your behavior and tried to justify it by saying that your behavior encouraged you to do it.

“This attempt to blame her, in my opinion, shows your sense of entitlement, which you have also demonstrated through your voyeurism.”

At the beginning of the trial, the jury learned that Hawthorne had previously been convicted of the offense of “upskirting” in 2021 and received a nine-month suspended sentence.

He had secretly recorded a video under a woman’s clothing in an office and also committed a similar voyeurism offence against a woman shopping at TK Maxx.

Referring to the sexual assault, Judge Townsend continued: “The fact that you may have believed it was consensual does not excuse your persistence. It made her life in the office very difficult indeed.”

The judge praised the victim for her “courage.”

“Anyone who wants to believe that such crimes are unimportant only has to listen to the victim’s testimony to realize how serious the matter is,” he said.

In a statement to the court, the victim said Hawthorne’s crimes had impacted various aspects of her life, including her work, her physical health and her relationship.

“I used to be afraid to go into the office, change my appointments, see who else was in the office, and change my seat to make it harder for him to get closer to me,” she said.

“During this time I considered leaving several times and I often felt very isolated because no one else knew what was happening.”

Still, the victim said things became “more difficult” after the former councilor was suspended and arrested because she was “afraid” that people would find out and not believe her.

“When I told my friends at work, their support was invaluable, especially those who recognised what had happened to me and supported me in telling other people.”

Judge Townsend said Hawthorne had caused the victim “serious physical and psychological harm”, causing migraines, heart palpitations and anxiety.

The judge said a suspended sentence was appropriate because he believed Hawthorne did not pose a high risk of reoffending and had made efforts to rehabilitate himself.