A council worker who claims she was indecently assaulted by a DUP councillor made two previous allegations of inappropriate behaviour against council staff and filed a case for sexual discrimination, a court heard today.
The Crown Court in Belfast was told the former worker made a complaint to the chief executive of Newtownabbey Council alleging that she had been kissed and touched against her will.
She also claimed an official took pictures of her at her home and filed a civil case against the council for sexual discrimination.
Roger Hutchinson (54) denies indecently assaulting the witness on March 31st, 2003. The witness told a jury that she was returning from a marketing event and was exiting a car when the incident occurred.
"He tried to kiss me and in the process of doing that he touched me," she recalled. "I was very concerned, I contacted my chief executive. He said he would look into the matter." The public worker kept a diary noting incidents which happened between 2001 and spring 2003.
She has launched a civil case against the local authority claiming thousands of pounds worth of damages for alleged sexual and religious discrimination. The woman said that Mr Hutchinson, from Millar's Forge, Dundonald, had been "extremely suggestive, rude and aggressive".
She added this had culminated in the alleged offence by Mr Hutchinson at the council headquarters at Mossley Mill in Newtownabbey. She was giving evidence on the second day of the trial before Judge Tom Burgess which is examining the former Democratic Unionist Party politician's conduct. Mr Hutchinson has denied all wrongdoing in the case.
His barrister, Andrew Donaldson, accused her under cross-examination of adding to her evidence. "You are building up your case against Roger Hutchinson and the council by putting in things that you could have put in earlier," he said.
The witness admitted she had objected before to threatening approaches from another council employee. "He was in a car and he was outside and I thought that he had taken a photograph or I had seen a flash of some description," she said.
"I made the complaint on the basis that I didn't understand why he had been there and I was very concerned." The court also heard that she had been in a relationship with one council official before leaving in 2003. The hearing continues and the trial is expected to last some days.
PA