Prominent Melbourne lawyer denies assaulting underage girl
A Melbourne lawyer accused of groping a teenager at a kebab shop had earlier invited a group of girls to drink with him, a court has been told.
Solicitor Glenn Thexton, who was suspended from practising law over the allegations nearly two years ago, faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday.
He's charged with sexual assault over an incident outside a King Street kebab shop in the CBD in September 2019.
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A court heard Thaxton met the underage girls in a 7-Eleven. Nine
A witness, who cannot be named, told the court she had left an underage event in the city when she and a friend met Thexton and another man inside a 7-Eleven shop.
She alleged the men asked her to go to a club, called Upstairs, with them to drink.
"I said 'no we're 17' and he said 'you can come upstairs, have drinks and you can stay with us, 17 or not'," she told the court.
The witness said about two hours later she saw Thexton at a kebab shop.
She told her male friend Thexton had followed her, before a scuffle broke out between the two men.
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Thaxton is accused of groping a teenager in a kebab shop. Nine
She claimed she saw Thexton walk upstairs to a club and then return to the kebab shop, where he allegedly stood close behind a 17-year-old girl and touched her inappropriately on the bottom.
"She's moved forward, away from him, and starts wailing and crying, very upset and distressed," the witness said.
She said Thexton walked away and was refused entry into two clubs before he disappeared down a side street.
Thexton's lawyer Dermot Dann QC accused the witness of fabricating her story and said the Upstairs club was not open at the time.
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Another witness, who also cannot be named, told the court he saw Thexton stumbling and believed he was under the influence of something.
Dann flagged an application for discharge of the charges.
It's expected the application will be made when the hearing resumes on October 11.
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