Highland bar manager convicted of sexual assault
A JURY has convicted an Inverness bar manager of sexually assaulting a teenager after she fell asleep on a sofa bed at his flat during a party.
Andries Van Der Schyff (33) claimed the woman, who was 19 at the time of the alleged offence in December, 2012, had consented to what happened between them.
But the jury of ten women and three men didn’t believe him and after a three-day trial at Inverness returned a majority verdict of guilty.
The court had heard the Van Der Schyff, who was 32 at the time, and colleagues from Johnny Foxes bar and the Den had been out celebrating a staff member’s birthday on the night of December 2.
They returned to his flat and the teenager, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, fell asleep on the sofa bed.
In giving her evidence she broke down in tears as she described how she woke up to find Van Der Schyff removing her jeans and underwear.
She admitted she was drunk and with her friends had visited several pubs before arriving back at a flat in Tomnahurich Street in the early hours on December 3, 2012.
All the party goers had left when she woke on a sofa bed to find everyone had gone.
She said she awoke to find her trousers and underwear were being removed by a man she barely knew.
The woman admitted she was drunk adding: “I don’t really remember anything from the party being in full swing until waking up and there was no one else there but him.”
She said he touched her inappropriately and this went on for a minute.
She had fallen asleep fully clothed beside another woman who was also at the party. The other woman had left earlier and the 19 year-old was woken by Van Der Schyff touching her.
She said she left the sofa bed and went into the bathroom and returned to collect her underwear and her handbag then left the flat.
She walked out towards the Ness bridge and called a friend who had been at the party and asked her to pick her up.
“I broke down. I was a bit hysterical on the phone. I asked her to come and get me.”
She contacted the police the following day after she broke down in tears at work and told colleagues what had happened.
Cross-examined by defence solicitor Neil Wilson she denied that she had done something foolish because of her drunken state and she was ashamed. She denied that she had taken her clothes off herself and that she had consented to the contact with Van Der Schyff.
Van Der Schyff (33), now of King Street, Inverness lived at the flat at the time. He denied sexually assaulting the woman while she was incapable of giving her consent.
Detective Constable Peter Dingwall (43) took a statement from Van Der Schyff at Burnett Road Police Station on December 6.
In the statement Van Der Schyff said after some of the party guests left he went for cigarettes and returned to the flat and the woman was asleep on the sofa bed which was in the couch position.
“I woke her as I had to dismantle the bed so I could go to bed as well,” he told officers.
He said he climbed into bed and the woman turned towards him.
“She looked at me and touched me,” said Van Der Schyff in his statement.
He added the woman removed her underwear herself and the events that followed were with her consent.
As she left the flat Van Der Schyff said she hugged him and kissed him on the neck.
“It did happen obviously. I now regret it. It shouldn’t have. But it happened. I did nothing wrong. I did not force anything on her. She didn’t say stop.”
Van Der Schyff added in the statement: “I’m not angry with (her). I don’t know why she’s done this. I’m more shocked and surprised.”
Sentence was deferred until June 17 for criminal justice social work reports and Van Der Schyff was placed on the Sex Offenders Register