Britain's Got Talent contestant pulled shop worker's shirt aside
A driving instructor who competed on Britain's Got Talent shocked a shop assistant when he pulled her shirt aside to look at the tattoo over her right breast, a court heard yesterday.
The 23-year-old woman told magistrates that her 'stomach turned' when John Gough, 76, touched her in full view of other customers and staff as he paid for petrol at the Gloucester store.
'I felt quite overwhelmed and emotional,' she said in evidence at Cheltenham Magistrates Court.
The 23-year-old woman told magistrates that her 'stomach turned' when John Gough, 76, (pictured left, outside court, and right, on BGT last year) reached forward to touch her in full view of other customers and staff as he paid for petrol at the Gloucester store
She could not continue working and she rang her mum and 'burst into tears' as she told her what had happened, she said.
Mr Gough, of Gloucester, accepted that his actions amounted to a common assault but denied a charge of sexual assault on the woman on November 22 last year.
The driving school boss, who holds records for economical long distance driving on minimal amounts of fuel, told the court he barely touched the woman and had no sexual motive behind his actions.
He said he had simply been intrigued by the writing tattooed on her chest but could only see a few of the letters and thought they said 'red.'
Record breaking driving instructor and Britain's Got Talent contestant John Gough gets into his car outside Cheltenham Magistrates court
CCTV of the incident was played to the court. It showed him queueing to pay for fuel and, as he did so, suddenly putting his hand on the shoulder of the woman in front of him for no apparent reason.
He then walked forward to the alleged victim's till and could be seen almost immediately reaching out to the woman's chest area with his left hand. It was clear in the video that her own hands did not leave the counter.
Mr Gough claimed she had moved her polo shirt aside herself so he could read the rest of her tattoo - but the CCTV clearly showed that did not happen and he said he could not understand why not.
During yesterday's trial the court heard that the woman cashier in a Gloucester shop/petrol station had a two line sentence about love tattooed just above her right breast. She said it was positioned so it would be covered up by her work polo shirt and she would look 'professional.'
When Mr Gough approached her, she said: 'Hhis fingers went on my top and pulled it down and to the right.
'He pulled it across to reveal the full length of my tattoo. His fingers were on the skin of my chest.'
She said she asked if he was trying to read the tattoo but he just grinned and did not really respond and he did not question her about it.
'When he pulled my top across he leaned his head down and started looking at it,' she said. 'I was quite shocked. I didn't know what to do. I just wanted to serve him and get him out of the shop.'
She estimated his hand was on her for about five seconds.
'It was part of my breast - the top part of my breast, a personal place,' she said. 'When he did go my stomach turned. It made me shake. I felt really uncomfortable, I felt like crying. But I didn't want to make a scene in front of the customers.
After a half-day trial the magistrates said they believed the woman's account of what happened but could not be sure beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Gough's actions were sexually motivated and so found him not guilty of sexual assault
'I turned to my colleague and said 'He just pulled my top across. Do you mind if I go?'
'I felt overwhelmed and emotional. I contacted my mum and I burst into tears. I spoke to my manager and we decided to call the police.'
Cross-examined by Tim Burrows, for Mr Gough, she denied that he had asked her about whether the letters 'red' in the tattoo related to Manchester United or Ferrari. He said nothing of the kind, she insisted.
Linda Mustoe, the woman in the queue in front of Mr Gough before the incident, told the court he stood quite close behind her and made her feel 'uncomfortable.'
'Then I felt something touch me. It was a hand on my left shoulder,' she said. 'I quickly looked around and saw the man. He said sorry and moved back. '
She said while she was being served Mr Gough went to the next till and after he left she heard the cashier saying 'That man has just pulled my top down.'
'She was distressed and I said, "Actually, he made me feel uncomfortable too. He actually touched me."'
In evidence, Mr Gough said the woman's tattoo was up on her collarbone, not her breast, and he could only see the letters 'red' so he asked 'Are you Man U then, or Ferrari?'
'She said 'Do you want to see it?' and I said 'I don't mind.' She pulled it to the side and she laughed.
'When I put my hand out I may have flicked her top, I don't know.'
After a half-day trial the magistrates said they believed the woman's account of what happened but could not be sure beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Gough's actions were sexually motivated and so found him not guilty of sexual assault.
'She said he took hold of her polo shirt and pulled it across to reveal her skin - the CCTV revealed he did,' said court chairman Andrew Tabor. 'He denied touching her at all although grudgingly admitted he might have flicked her clothing. He claimed she opened her shirt to show the tattoo even though CCTV evidence showed her hands not to leave her till.
'We are satisfied he did indeed touch her to reveal her tattoo. That action could be perceived to be sexual but we are not convinced that the purpose was sexual.'
When the court declared Mr Gough not guilty of sexual assault he raised both hands above his head and said 'Correct decision, Sir.'
He insisted he had absolutely no sexual motive for what he did.
'I have taught 3,000 girls between the ages of 17 and 25 to drive - a total of 90,000 hours in the car on my own with them; no problem, and now I get some cock and bull story. I'm sorry, no way,' he said.
Mr Gough appeared on Britain's Got Talent in May last year and set a world record by reciting the alphabet backwards in four seconds. He also tried to set a new record for telling the most jokes in one minute but dried up and fell well short of his 27 joke target.
In 1999 the lifelong driving instructor set a world record after averaging 113 miles per gallon when he drove his car from Exeter to Gloucester. He used only one gallon of unleaded petrol in his 850cc Perodua Nippa car up the M5 but to achieve the record had to go at only 35mph.
Then in 2003 Mr Gough set another record by driving a Toyota Yaris 28 miles on just one litre of fuel.