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Millionaire venture capitalist pressed himself against woman in office, court hears

Stefan Glaenzer - Tim Clarke for The Telegraph
Stefan Glaenzer - Tim Clarke for The Telegraph

One of Britain's foremost venture capitalists allegedly sexually assaulted a woman by rubbing up against her as she loaded a dishwasher, a court has heard.

Multimillionaire investor Stefan Glaenzer is said to have approached the woman in an office kitchen two and a half days after she started a new job.

Giving evidence at Isleworth Crown Court, the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: "I couldn't focus because I was in shock."

The alleged incident is said to have occurred in 2021 at an office near Mr Glaenzer's home in Kensington Park Gardens, West London.

Crown prosecutor Jose Olivares-Chandler told the jury: "The prosecution case is that on 9th June 2021 in an office kitchen, this defendant deliberately pressed his private parts against the bottom of the alleged victim as she loaded a dishwasher."

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He added: "The defendant accepts that he touched the alleged victim albeit with his hip... I accept he doesn't deny the touching was to her bottom, thus he denies touching her with his private parts and he denies the contact was deliberate or was sexual."

Jurors were shown photographs of the location of the alleged assault, including the location of the dishwasher and of an island in the middle of the office's kitchen.

The complainant testified that she "bent down from my hips" to open the dishwasher and stack plates and cutlery inside the machine.

"I got to about the 4th plate and I could feel a pressure kind of come up behind me," she said.

"I felt a leg on the left side of my hips. That was the first instant of contact I felt. As soon as I felt the pressure of the leg, I all of a sudden felt a presence directly behind my body."

Mr Olivares-Chandler asked: "What did you feel?"

"I felt male genitals," replied the woman, who described feeling "a firm nudge" between her buttocks "for about a good two seconds".

The woman said she told Mr Glaenzer "it's okay" after the contact between them. She added: "I didn't know what to say in that moment other than get away from the situation so I just said that's okay."

She immediately told a colleague and then her manager about the incident. For the rest of that day she worked on a separate floor from the venture capitalist. She said: "I felt vulnerable, exposed, and I didn't feel comfortable being in that space."

Louise Sweet KC, Mr Glaenzer's barrister, will cross-examine his alleged victim on Tuesday morning.

The defendant wore blue jeans and a black quarter-zip top over an open-necked white shirt. He did not speak during the hearing.

The trial continues.