A sleazy bank manager “looked proud” after pulling a woman’s top down at a Perth nightclub.
Sam Ronald tugged the stranger’s dress and exposed her breasts while horrified pals looked on.
The 27-year-old was found guilty of sexually assaulting the woman at The Loft venue on South Street following a trial at the city’s sheriff court.
Ronald, of Bridge of Earn, denied the charge, insisting he had been trying to sort the woman’s strap after it slipped down her shoulder.
But he came unstuck after witnesses explained his victim was wearing a halter neck dress, with no shoulder straps.
He was placed on the Sex Offenders Register and will be sentenced next month.
‘Trying to process what just happened’
Ronald’s victim, a 20-year-old hotel worker, gave evidence by video link.
She said she had been at the club in the early hours of June 18 last year, wearing a short green dress, with low-cut V-neck top.
The woman, who cannot be identified, said Ronald walked past while she was with friends on the dance floor, near the bar.
He used one hand to open her dress, exposing both of her breasts.
“At first I just kind of froze.
“I was trying to process what just happened.
“Then I questioned him. I asked him: ‘What was that all about’?”
She walked away but about 10 minutes later noticed Ronald “glaring” and “smirking” at her across the dance floor.
“I approached him. The look he gave me was almost like he was proud of what he did.”
The woman asked: “What the f*** was that all about?”
She told the trial: “He looked right through me, as if I wasn’t even there.
“He never said a word. He just looked into my eyes, looking confused.
“That triggered me even more, so I slapped him across the face.”
The woman was then escorted out by club manager Craig Fraser.
The court heard she later picked out Ronald at an ID parade.
‘She looked a bit shocked’
Ronald told the court he was manager of an RBS branch at the time but is now working as a customer service advisor for online bank Monzo.
He said he had been out celebrating a friend’s new job.
After drinking champagne at Gleneagles Hotel, he and friends took a taxi to The Loft.
“At about 2.15am, I went to the bar to get one last round.
“I saw the woman and noticed her strap was hanging loose on her shoulder.
“I took my left hand and pulled it up for her.
“She turned round and asked what I was doing. She looked a bit shocked.
”I said I was sorry and that I was just trying to pull up her strap but she looked so shocked I backed off.”
He said he decided to “call it a night” after he was slapped across the face with an open palm.
Asked by fiscal depute Andrew Harding about evidence the woman was wearing a halter neck top, Ronald said: “I can’t comment on that. I just remember a strap on her shoulder.”
Credibility
Sheriff Gillian Wade found Ronald guilty of sexual assault, saying his victim’s evidence was “credible and reliable”.
She said: “Your description of the dress makes your account not credible and not reliable.”
Ronald will find out how long he must stay on the Sex Offenders Register when he is sentenced on July 31.
For the latest court cases across Tayside and Fife, join our Courts Facebook page.
