A charity shop volunteer accused of assaulting a teenager in the staff room said he’d been drinking before coming to work and was a “functioning alcoholic”.
The trial of Simon Budden continued at Ipswich Crown Court, with transcripts of his police interview read aloud and Budden himself taking to the stand.
In 2022, Budden allegedly asked a teenage girl if she’d had sex while she was alone with him in the staff room of a charity shop in Bury St Edmunds, where they both volunteered.
She has accused Budden of then coming up behind her, sitting on the same chair as her with his legs either side and rubbing her lower back.
Budden, of Bramford Road, Ipswich, has denied sexually assaulting the girl and told the police he viewed her as “a little kid”.
He did admit telling the girl at what age he had lost his virginity.
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The police officer said they struggled to see how the topic had come up. From the witness box, Budden said the girl had told him she did not like school, and he was discussing the timeline of his own schooling, and how he had not liked school either.
Budden, 47, said he went into the staff room and saw the girl looking “miserable” and “very glum”.
He said he “instinctively” put his hand on the girl’s back and asked if she was alright, to which she replied she was fine.
Budden said that at the time of the incident, he was a “functioning alcoholic”. Before arriving to work he had drunk three cans of cider, but said he was “not drunk”.
He said his inhibitions would likely have been lowered, and that he can now see discussing his virginity with a student was “inappropriate”.
“I regret it,” Budden said, but added that he felt his words had been taken “out of context”.
“The only thing I’m guilty of is talking more than I should have,” Budden said
The trial continues.
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