Shropshire businessman loses girl sex assault appeal
A businessman jailed for sexually molesting a schoolgirl has failed to clear his name in court despite claiming he was unfairly convicted on the basis of a "home video".
Julian Tudor Owen, 51, of Long Row, Lydbury North, was jailed for two-and-a-half years at Shrewsbury Crown Court in December 2013.
He was convicted of one charge of sexually assaulting a girl, who was under 13, but acquitted of another.
He challenged his conviction at London's Appeal Court yesterday, claiming his trial was fundamentally unfair.
The judge who jailed him had described Owen as a decent, law-abiding man before his fall from grace.
Owen's conviction came after the girl's parents filmed a video interview in their home in which she disclosed Owen's conduct. This video was later played to the jury and formed a key part of the prosecution evidence.
On appeal, Owen's legal team said this was highly irregular, since such video testimony was usually gathered under strictly controlled conditions.
Mr Justice Nicol accepted it was an unusual course but ruled that Owen's trial had not been prejudiced.
The judge, sitting with Lord Justice McCombe and Judge Stephen Kramer QC, said he had no wish to "encourage other parents to adopt the course taken here" nor should prosecutors assume that such "home videos" would always be accepted as primary evidence.
But he said: "The decision to allow this particular recording to stand as the evidence in chief of this particular witness can't be faulted."
Even without the video, Owen faced "powerful corroborative evidence".
He concluded: "We don't consider there are arguable grounds for appealing this conviction."
