'Fantasist' found guilty of sexual assault after magistrates reject his 'threesome' consent argument
A Telford man has been found guilty of two sexual assaults on the same woman after magistrates found his evidence to be "inconsistent".
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Sixty-two-year old Thomas Farnell was described as a "fantasist" by a prosecutor at Telford Magistrates Court as the trial heard that he believed the woman wanted to be a part of a sexual threesome.
Farnell did not dispute that he touched the woman on her left breast, kissed her and on one occasion in February 2023 put his hand between her legs.
He also sexually assaulted the same woman a few days later, the court heard, when he went to her home and touched her in her kitchen when she was at her sink.
Farnell, of Lonsdale Court, Little Dawley, had pleaded not guilty to both charges and two women spoke from behind screens at the court on Friday to give evidence and be cross-examined from the witness box. The bench thanked both witnesses for appearing to give evidence.
"He approached her and out of the blue he started to touch her breasts, and tried to kiss her," said prosecutor Chris Coughlan.
"She was horrified but did not say anything at the time because she just froze," he said. "She said nothing about that incident.
"On the 21st he went around her home and she thought he was going to apologise and let him in. She was at the kitchen sink filling up some water for the birds and he touched her breasts again from behind.
"He tried to kiss her and she said 'no, no'."
The court was told that when Farnell's wife found out he was kicked out of the house, made homeless and was living in his car.
Magistrates were told that Farnell admitted to his actions and had apologised. He pleaded not guilty because he believed the acts were consensual.
"He admitted it because he believed he was going to be in a threesome. The Crown say it is utterly wrong and it is a fantasy. He is a fantasist.
"The woman did not consent to being assaulted. It is about whether she consented and then up to magistrates."
Balding Farnell, who was wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans and walked with the use of a stick, could not see the two women who appeared behind specially built screens at court for the morning trial. They cannot be named for legal reasons.
The victim spoke, her voice breaking at times, as she described what Farnell had done as he towered over her.
