Crispin Odey, 62, ‘thrust his hand up 26-year-old junior banker’s skirt

Multimillionaire hedge fund manager Crispin Odey thrust his hand up a junior investment banker’s skirt and told her ‘this is going to end in bed’, a court heard.

The married 62-year-old has denied indecently assaulting the then 26-year-old woman in his Chelsea home in 1998, when he was 39. 

Hendon Magistrates’ Court today heard that he ‘lunged’ at the alleged victim on the evening of July 13, having showered and changed into a robe.

Odey is also accused of putting his hand down her shirt to touch her breast after inviting her to his home following a work meeting.

He was accompanied to court by his hedge fund manager wife Nichola Pease. The couple walked arm-in-arm as they headed inside.

Prosecutor Kerry Broome said: ‘She said she was shocked and scared. She wrestled herself free and left.

‘It is alleged this defendant Crispin Odey indecently assaulted a lady… back in 1998.

‘Though Mr Odey accepts on the night in question he propositioned her, he denies the assault took place.

‘There is therefore a single issue to be resolved – did Crispin Odey physically assault (the complainant) as she alleged or is it simply an ill-judged and unwanted sexual invitation which was verbal and nothing more?’

The court heard it was common for junior employees of the investment bank to accompany more senior members of the team to meet clients.

The woman met with ‘high-profile’ Odey at Odey Asset Management, the company he founded in 1991, where he ‘showed an interest in her’ and invited her to return later, which ‘she hoped would further her career’, the prosecutor said.

No male employees were invited to his office – where she met Odey before going to his house by taxi.

She assumed his Mrs Pease, would also be at home.

Ms Broome said: ‘Mr Odey suggested ordering takeaway and going to change into something more comfortable.

‘He returned sometime later wearing a robe, having obviously showered. It was by this time the woman was somewhat concerned.

‘She didn’t anticipate what was about to happen. She remembered sitting in a booth in the seat next to a table so she was blocked in.

‘There was a seat next to her and at that point he lunged at her. He put his hand on her breast down her shirt, put his other hand on her back, then he put his other hand up her skirt.’

The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, did not report the incident to the bank at the time but sent an email to Odey in 2013 before telling police four years later in October 2017.

The court heard that, when Odey was interviewed in 2019, he accepted she was at his house, where they were talking about work, and said she asked him: ‘Where is this going to end?’

‘Mr Odey said, “this is going to end up in bed hopefully”,’ the prosecutor said.

‘He said the woman was appalled, he had misread the signals and she left.

‘He accepts he made the proposition but said there was no physical assault and for whatever reason she is exaggerating.

‘He said it was stupid of him to make the offer, but stupid of her to go to his house.’

Ms Broome added: ‘This case will turn on whether or not (the complainant) is telling the truth about what happened.

‘She is a successful professional with her own family and no obvious motivation… to exaggerate or pursue this claim.’

Odey, whose first name is Robin but uses his middle name Crispin, was supported by his wife, who is also a hedge fund manager, whom he married in 1991, in court, where he wore a dark suit, pale blue shirt, dark blue tie and glasses.

The vocal Brexit backer, who is worth about £800 million according to the Sunday Times Rich List, was briefly married to media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s eldest daughter Prudence in the mid-1980s and has courted controversy over the course of his career through his investment strategies.

Last November, he stepped down as chief executive of the company he founded, saying he would focus on managing his own funds.

Odey, of Chelsea, denies indecent assault. 

The trial continues.