Lawyer fronts court over allegations of sexual assault

An Albert Park solicitor has been accused of drunkenly grabbing the buttocks of a 17-year-old girl outside a King St kebab shop.

Lawyer Glenn Thexton has been charged with sexual assault and his case has been remitted back to the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.

A prominent Melbourne lawyer accused of groping a teenage girl outside a kebab shop has won a bid to have his case transferred back to the Magistrates’ Court.

Glenn Thexton, 43, from Albert Park, vehemently denies touching the 17-year-old girl outside the late-night King St food store in the CBD on September 25, 2019.

The Melbourne Magistrates’ Court last year ordered Thexton to stand trial in the County Court despite him arguing the sexual assault charge should be thrown out because CCTV showed her version of events were false.

Police case is the lawyer spent the evening drinking with friends and colleagues when witnesses reported him stumbling intoxicated through the streets.

Thexton’s lawyer Glenn Mohammed filed an application in the County Court last month for the case to be moved to the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court which could hear the matter in June.

Lawyer Glenn Thexton is facing a charge of sexual assault.

He challenged the prosecution’s argument that Mr Thexton was either intentionally or deliberately trying to delay the case, saying his client was charged about a year after the alleged incident.

Mr Mohammed outlined a chronology of the case thus far but Judge Gerard Mullaly asked him to focus on the relevant law the former relied on as part of his application.

Prosecutor Jordan Johnston said the central plank of his argument was a delay in finalising the matter.

Although the prosecution didn’t suggest Mr Thexton was responsible for the entire delay, he said the defendant’s latest application came less than two weeks before his trial was due to start in County Court on March 18.

A transfer of the matter back to the Magistrates’ Court, he submitted, would present difficulties for witnesses and the complainant.

The alleged incident Melbourne lawyer Glenn Thexton has been charged with happened outside a King St kebab shop.

But Judge Mullaly ruled that although the alleged offence was serious, it could be dealt with in the Magistrates’ Court which could impose a just and appropriate sentence if Mr Thexton was found guilty.

Mr Thexton’s alleged conduct was not predatory, he has no convictions, and it was a one-off incident, the judge said.

He said the case was not complex and that the lower court, like the County Court, has advanced technology to make witnesses comfortable.

Judge Mullaly said the matter should be dealt with speedily. The trial date in County Court has been vacated.