Housekeeper claims lodge owner offered money for sex
The owner of a Highland lodge has gone on trial accused of making a woman 'scared and nervous' by his sexual advances.
Kevin Booth, 65, a horse racing tipster, allegedly hired a female housekeeper to 'cut weeds' and give him regular massages. On one occasion, Mr Booth is accused of offering her an 'extra payment' to 'spank' him.
Mr Booth is accused at Wick sheriff court of directing 'sexual communication' towards the woman, who is now 40.
The alleged offences are said to have taken place at Booth's home in Lochdhu Lodge, Altnabreac, Halkirk, where he lived with his wife and young child, between August 8, 2022 and December 9, 2022.
On Thursday, the court heard that the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, found a job through a Facebook group and her contract included cutting weeds and providing massages to Mr Booth.
She was driven several hundred miles to Booth's home by her husband, and said she could not leave as she did not know where in Scotland she was and could not drive.
Giving evidence with the assistance of an interpreter over a video link from overseas, the woman told the court she was 'surprised' Booth was naked for the massages except for a towel covering his 'private parts'.
She said Booth spoke to her after the massages, which took place either in his office or a 'private room', and would give her a 'rating' for them, saying they were 'normally seven out of 10, but sometimes eight out of 10'.
The woman said that after one of the massages Booth offered her an 'extra payment' to 'spank' him.
On another occasion, she said, he offered her additional money 'if there was a happy ending', and that he explained it to her when she asked him what it meant.
She said she refused these requests, telling him at one point that she had children, and adding she had not done anything to suggest she was 'interested in discussing these kinds of things'.
She also said that at one point, the towel with which Booth covered himself during massages was replaced with a 'handkerchief'.
She said at her husband's suggestion, she began to take video and audio recordings of the massages, with her phone tucked into her pocket, saying she acted after Booth had 'started to become naughty' during the sessions.
She said: 'I started recording because whenever the cover [fell] he asked me to pick it up and cover himself, and [said] it is not his job to cover himself.'
She described the effect Booth's actions had on her, saying: 'I am actually afraid, there is fear in my chest but I did my best not to show him.
'I was scared and nervous. I cannot really explain how I felt, but I was scared and nervous.'
She also said Mr Booth had asked her intimate questions about her first husband, including about the size of his 'manhood'.
Mr Booth denies one charge of directing sexual communication to a woman without her consent for the purposes of his own gratification, contrary to the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009.
The trial, before the sheriff, Eilidh MacDonald, continues.
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