Man admits after party sexual assault

A WELSH man is to be placed on the sexual offenders register after he admitted touching a woman sexually while he was very drunk following a party in Shetland last November.

Lerwick Sheriff Court heard that 39 year old Christopher Weldon had returned to a house party in Leaside, Mossbank, after going out drinking with works colleagues.

Witnesses told the police Weldon was “hammered” that evening, according to procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie.

Some of the partygoers stayed the night, including a woman who was sharing a couch with another female as there was limited space in the house to sleep.

Mackenzie said that at 5am on 2 November the woman woke up to find Weldon’s hand inside her underwear.

“She was asleep and slowly came to in an extremely confused state,” he said.

“She couldn’t understand what was happening to her and thought that she was dreaming. It took a little while to realise what was happening to her.”

When she came too, he said, Weldon walked out of the living room and left her in “a very confused and distressed state”. The police were called later that day.

The fiscal added that the woman had earlier told Weldon that she was not sexually attracted to men.

He also said that though this was “appalling behavior”, the primary issue for Weldon appeared to be alcohol rather than sexual deviancy.

Weldon, who lives at 12 Cwmfelin Cottages, Rhifawr Road, Lower Cwmtwrch, Swansea, lost his job as a result of the incident and has had to leave his family home, the court was told.

Deferring sentence until 20 March for background reports, Sheriff Philip Mann warned Weldon that he would be subject to the notification requirements of the Sexual Offenders Act, which could cause him “a considerable degree of inconvenience for some considerable period of time”.