Former Chesterfield FC manager James Rowe’s family cheers as he is found not guilty of sexually assaulting a female masseuse

A jury at Derby Crown Court returned the majority verdict after four hours and 17 minutes following a trial which lasted just over five days.

Rowe’s family shouted “yes” “come one” at the back of the court and were admonished by Judge Jonathan Bennett, who told them “you’ve done precisely what I asked you not to do.”

Addressing Mr Rowe, he said: “Mr Rowe, you’ve been found not guilty, you are free to go.” He added: “After the reaction from your family you must have thought you were back on the touchline.”

Rowe, of Blind Lane, Breaston, denied sexual assault on a female.

The assault for which Rowe was on trial is said to have happened on November 24, 2021, when Rowe requested a “back massage” at a private salon, the trial heard.

Rowe, 41, is said to have exposed his penis while on the massage bed having asked before the appointment if she was wearing “Frenchies or a thong?”.

A jury was told he then pulled at the waistband of the woman’s trousers to look at her tattoo and tried to “undo her tunic” to have a look at her breasts, telling her she had “massive t**ts”.

Opening the case on October 7, Gurdial Singh, prosecuting, said in November 2021 Chesterfield FC was “flying high” and “in prime position for a play off place” when Rowe got in touch with a “lighthearted" message asking the complainant for a massage.

Mr Singh said during the consultation Rowe “got his penis out and tried and hit her hand with it” despite protestations from the victim.

When the masseuse returned to the room, having left momentarily while upset, Rowe allegedly asked her to sit on a stool at the height of his penis “for obvious reasons”, said Mr Singh.

The barrister said: ”He then kept putting his hand on the inside of her leg, she kept removing it and putting it back on the bed.

"He then said he wanted to look at her tattoo and pulled at the waistband of her trousers to get a look. He also tried to undo her tunic to have a look at her breasts, saying “go on, let me just see your t**s. You’ve got massive t**ts”.

The court heard the masseuse later told her colleagues what had happened. She also told a client who is a police sergeant, a few weeks later in December.

In early January, following the Chelsea v Chesterfield third round FA cup game, Rowe was suspended from Chesterfield FC.

During Rowe’s trial the jury heard that in the lead-up to the November 24 massage he sent the woman a “flurry” of “flirty” Whatsapp messages the evening before the alleged assault, on November 23, including one in which he asked if she was a “private” person and another in which he asked if she was wearing “Frenchies or a thong”.

The complainant claimed that after she told Rowe his advances were not wanted, before he left the premises on November 24, he made her delete all of the messages between them from her phone.

Defence barrister Mr Eguae told the woman she was “categorically lying” about the Whatsapp conversation between her and Mr Rowe on November 2023 because the same evening Rowe was at Chesterfield’s SMH Group Stadium for a match with Altrincham FC.

He said: “I suggest to you during the evening of November 23 you were not in message communications with Mr Rowe. I suggest the reason is Mr Rowe was standing on the touchline of Chesterfield FC as they played Altrincham.”

"You’re wrong,” said the complainant, adding: “I sent him a message saying ‘please keep it professional’”.

Jurors in the trial heard how on November 24 when Mr Rowe arrived for his massage, he told the complainant his “groin” needed “attention”, after initially saying he needed a back massage.

The complainant told the court in her evidence: “He said he wanted his groin doing, he was changing it. If I knew that I would never have agreed to it. You don’t get mixed up between the back and the groin.”

Mr Eguae told the complainant he believed that while massaging the top of Rowe’s thigh she had touched his privates, causing the manager to become “aroused”.

He said: “I suggest he didn’t stop you from doing what you were doing – I suggest you pulled his briefs down.” "You’re wrong”, said the complainant.

The barrister told her after this she had then given Rowe oral sex before a noise outside the room brought the encounter to an end and caused Rowe to “pull his boxer shorts up”.

One the complainant’s former clients, giving evidence during the trial, described how, when she asked why the masseuse had not reported Rowe, she replied she would be “hated” and “it will be my word against his”.

A week after the complainant disclosed what had allegedly happened, her client reported it to the police. In her evidence to the court the former client said the complainant told her if it got out she woud be “hated” and said she didn’t have any proof.

Another witness during the trial, a colleague, said while Rowe was still in the massage room on November 24 the complainant emerged, looking “upset and shook up”.

The witness said: “I asked if she was Ok. She said ‘no’ and went back into the room.” However, she said nothing more about what was said to have taken place, simply adding “I’ll see you tomorrow”.

Speaking about the following day, when the complainant shared what had allegedly happened, the witness said: “She looked like she didn’t want to say anything and looked upset.

"When I asked why she didn’t tell us she said she wanted to stay professional and didn’t know what to do.”