A senior associate at Trowers & Hamlins has been cleared of groping an off-duty police officer after he testified that he was so drunk he couldn't remember the journey at all.

The London-based real estate lawyer, 34, was on trial for sexually assaulting the woman on a train to Milton Keynes last year. He was accused of positioning himself so he could watch her through a gap between two seats, making crude gestures and remarks and then putting his hand on her thigh. The woman said she moved seats when fellow passengers invited her to sit with them.

But he told the jury he couldn’t remember anything because he had been too drunk. He said he had taken a three hour lunch with other Trowers lawyers and “I think I had a couple of bottles of wine - white wine”. He said he returned to the office and had a "couple" more glasses of wine to celebrate a colleague who was going on maternity leave, then continued the celebrations at a nearby pub where ”I would have had vodka and tonic, possibly more wine. I drink Guinness as well. I was pretty drunk”. When the party moved to the darts-themed Flight Club, he said, “My memory is getting hazy by that point but I think I went back to the pub”.

The lawyer said he thought he took a taxi to Euston, but he had no memory of the ride, catching the train, or the onward journey. He said he had no recollection of speaking to the women, gesturing towards her with his fingers either side of his mouth and licking, or pulling “kissy faces”. Shown CCTV footage of himself talking to her, he said, “I was a mess. I was clearly heavily intoxicated...Would I be proud to show my mum the way I was that night? The answer would be no”. But the carriage CCTV did not show the moment he was said to have touched the officer's leg, behaviour he said “seems unlikely and would be massively out of character”. Asked if he had been sexually attracted to the woman, he replied “I think it’s unlikely”.

A jury took just over an hour to acquit the solicitor. Trowers commented to confirm the lawyer had been found not guilty of all charges against him.

_{[This story was amended on 22/5/23 to remove the lawyer's name at his request. ROF obliged as he was found not guilty, and having this search result hanging over him for all eternity in those circumstances seemed disproportionate.]}