Former council chair is found not guilty of sexual assault

A DERBYSHIRE councillor has been cleared of a charge of sexual assault.

- By EDDIE BISKNELL

In a trial at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court yesterday, Cllr Malcolm Gee, 76, of Briar Close, Newhall, was found not guilty of sexual assault.

He had been accused of “intentionally touching a woman and that touching was sexual when she did not consent and you did not reasonably believe that she was consenting.”

Cllr Gee, a member of South Derbyshire District Council representing Woodville for Labour, had pleaded not guilty in December and maintained his innocence throughout the trial, saying: “I have never done anything wrong.”

He did not wish to comment following the verdict being read out by Magistrate Maggie Tate. Cllr Gee is a former council chairman, a self-employed driving instructor, a South Derbyshire-registered private hire vehicle driver and a governor at Granville Academy.

The trial heard how a member of council staff, who cannot be identified, had alleged she was sexually assaulted on May 13, 2024. She alleged Cllr Gee had poked the council emblem on her uniform which sat on her left breast, asking “what is that called” and then poked her right breast, asking again “what is that one called”.

Later on, during the same evening, it was alleged that Cllr Gee spoke to the woman again but chose to leave when the woman called out to another colleague who had been out of view.

She has claimed: “I didn’t know what to do when someone of that stature touches my boobies, it has never happened before”.