A motorcycle racing team boss was slammed by a sheriff for his “obnoxious” behaviour towards a teenage “brolly dolly” at a championship meeting at Knockhill.
Shaun Rose was fined for making a crude comment about the girl’s appearance in a tight-fitting lycra suit. However, he was cleared of two charges of sexual assault on females at the same race meet.
The behaviour of 49-year-old Rose, owner of the Doncaster-based Moto-Breakers Racing Team, was branded “particularly offensive and arrogant”.
Grid girls or “brolly dollies” are a colourful part of big race days, promoting teams or products.
The incident took place when the British Superbikes Championships visited the Fife track on July 5 2015.
Pleas acceptable to the Crown were submitted on the second day of Rose’s trial at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.
Rose, of Sandford Road, Doncaster, admitted that at Knockhill Racing Circuit, he behaved in a threatening or abusive manner likely to cause fear or alarm by uttering an inappropriate remark to a female.
His plea of not guilty was accepted to a charge of sexually assaulting a woman by attempting to kiss her on the lips, striking her buttocks with his hand and repeatedly seizing her by the buttock.
A plea of not guilty was also accepted to a charge of sexually assaulting the girl by seizing her by the buttock.
Depute fiscal Dev Kapadia said, “The inappropriate remark made to the complainer is in the context of how the brolly girls were supposed to look in their tight-fitting lyra jump-suits.
“He was asking her to sort out her jump suit. The Crown accepts there was no sexual element to it.”
Susan Duff, QC for the defence, said her client owns a motor cycle scrapyard selling spare parts.
“The motor cycle team is a hobby and it’s one of his loves. Riders ask to be part of the team and pay for that through the sponsorship they raise,” she went on.
“Anything that was said that day was not meant to cause offence.”
However, Sheriff Charles Macnair told Rose, “It seems to me that you paid little regard to how young the complainer was and you behaved in a particularly offensive and arrogant way.”
He fined Rose £200 and also ordered him to pay £200 compensation to the girl.