Former Chesterfield FC manager James Rowe trial: Female masseuse felt “groomed into the whole situation”, court hears

The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, told police she felt “groomed” by Rowe, who asked her during Whatsapp messages prior to the appointment whether she was a “private person”.

Derby Crown Court heard today (Monday) how Rowe, 41, had asked the woman if she was wearing “Frenches or a thong” before he arrived for a “back massage” he had requested at the private salon in November 2021.

When told by the woman she wanted to keep the consultation “professional”, Rowe is said to have replied “whoa, whoa, whoa”, that the request was professional but he wanted a back massage.

Speaking about a stream of Whatsapp messages from the former manager before the massage, she said: “He wanted to get an idea of what I was like as a person, it was all questions aimed at me.

"He was firing lots of things, he was being nice...but he asked me if I was a private person – I thought with it being a football team, because of confidentiality.

"Now I think he is just a horrible sleazy person who meant could we have a dirty fling or could he control...I feel like I got groomed into the whole situation.”

A jury heard today how Rowe is said to have exposed his penis while on the massage bed at the private salon and to have 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”.

During the same encounter Rowe is accused of getting his penis out and trying to “hit” the woman’s hand with it, before taking hold of her hand and trying to put it on his penis.

Gurdial Singh, prosecuting, told jurors: “It's clear his penis did make contact with her hand and her fingers made contact with his penis.”

After refusing, and telling Rowe to pull up his trousers, the woman left the room. However, when she returned, the former manager was said to have paced his hand on the inside of her leg and pulled at the waistband of her trousers to look at a tattoo and tried to undo her tunic to have a look at her breasts.

Rowe is said to have initially asked the woman to sit on a stool at his waist height “for obvious reasons”, however the masseuse refused.

The complainant described during a police video interview played to the court how as she re-entered the room she saw Rowe with his hands behind his head, “with a smirk on his face”.

Before he left the salon Rowe is said to have demanded the masseuse delete all of the Whatsapp messages between them from her phone.

She said: “He said get it out (the phone) and let me see – I had to show him I had deleted the messages.” The woman described Rowe’s tone of voice as “cocky” as he said this.

She added: “It was as if he was allowed to behave that way.” However the woman said before Rowe exited the premises through the front door his tone was “different”, more “shaky”, “because he didn’t get anywhere with me”.

Speaking about the messages leading up to the alleged incident, she said: “I made it perfectly clear, I felt it was getting a bit out of control. I said ‘you’re a good-looking man, you’ve got a missus and a child and I want to keep it professional”.

The court heard the masseuse later told her colleagues what had happened. She also told a client who reported the alleged incident 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. After his arrest Rowe made no comment to all questions asked of him.

Rowe, of Blind Lane, Breaston, denies sexual assault on a female. The trial, expected to last five days, continues.