An accountancy firm boss told a jury he had receiv

An accountancy firm boss told a jury he had received blackmail
demands from a secretary who accused him of sexual harrassment.

Giving evidence at Inner London Crown Court, Leslie Sequeira,
52, agreed that he found the 26-year-old brunette ‘attractive’ and
took her on at his offices in Half Moon Lane, Dulwich, inspite of
her lack of qualifications.

But he denied groping and molesting her or using her as a
‘plaything’ in the months that she worked for him.

Sequeira, is alleged to have subjected his pretty secretary
to repeated sexual assaults.

He allegedly patted or slapped her bottom, rubbed his hand
against her breast, blew kisses to her from his desk, stroked her
hair and kissed the side of her head.

Sequeira, the managing director of accountancy firm, Leslie J.

Sequeira and Co.

, denies indecently assaulting the secretary from
Gillingham, Kent.

He told the jury that on July 15, Miss X telephoned him to
explain why she had not turned up for work.

‘She said she was in court concerning a summons.

I thought
it was concerning the poll tax.

‘
But smartly dressed Sequeira claimed the secretary told him
she was going to ‘sue’ him and ‘drag’ his name ‘through the mud’
if a cheque for pnds stlg 13,500 was not sent her way.

Asked by defence counsel, Mr John Kelsey-Fry, what his reaction
was, he replied: ‘I was flabbergasted.

‘
Sequeira said that as a result of that conversation he
telephoned East Dulwich police station and made an allegation of
blackmail against her.

The jury were told that Miss X was arrested but later released
without charge.

Sequeira was arrested on July 24 following her counter
allegation.

Mr Kelsey-Fry told him that according to the victim’s evidence
‘from day one you were possessive, you pestered her and touched her
in a personal way.

‘
Counsel asked Sequeira: ‘Did that happen.

‘
He replied firmly: ‘It did not happen.

‘
Miss Wendy Joseph, prosecuting, in cross examination asked the
defendant why he kept Miss X on as a secretary when some of his
employees complained about her lack of experience and qualifications
for the job.

Sequira claimed he had ‘many reasons’ for employing her and
added:
‘I felt she could cope with it given a little time and a little
encouragement.

‘
He said he found her ‘attractive’ but denied he ‘became besotted
with her.

‘
Miss Joseph: ‘The Crown’s case is that you employed her because
you found her sexually attractive and you treated her as a play
thing.

‘
Sequeira simply answered: ‘I did not.

‘
He said that Miss X and trainee accountant Hasan Mahmood – who
he dismissed from the practice in March last year – both ‘fabricated’
the story to get him into trouble.

The jury had heard how after his dismissal Mr Mahmood, 25, from,
Camberwell, complained to several professional accountants
organisations, about what he described as Sequeira’s ‘unethical and
illegal’ methods.

But Sequeira told the court that he believed Mr Mahmood was
responsible for three incidents during the last year in which paint
stripper was thrown over his car.

Sequeira, of Court Lane, Dulwich Village, se London, denies two
charges of indecent assault committed between February 3 and July 15,
1992.

The trial continues.

ends