A millionaire racing tipster left a woman feeling “scared and nervous” after allegedly making repeated sexual advances while she worked at his remote Highland estate, a court has heard.
Kevin Booth, 65, is standing trial at Wick Sheriff Court accused of directing sexual communication towards the woman, now 40, without her consent. The alleged offences are said to have occurred at Booth’s residence, Lochdu Lodge in Altnabreac, Halkirk, between August and December 2022.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, gave evidence on Thursday, stating she had responded to a job advertisement in a Facebook group. The role, she said, involved general household tasks, cutting weeds, and providing massages to Booth, who lived at the property with his wife and child.
She was reportedly driven several hundred miles to the Highland property by her husband, unaware of the exact location in Scotland, and unable to drive herself.
Speaking through an interpreter, the woman described her unease at Booth’s behaviour during massages, which took place in his office or a private room. She said she was “surprised” to find Booth undressed for the sessions, wearing only a towel to cover his private parts. After each massage, Booth would reportedly rate them out of ten, usually giving a score of seven or eight.
She told the court that Booth once offered her an “extra payment” to spank him, and on another occasion, suggested she could earn more money if there was a “happy ending”. When she asked what that meant, he allegedly explained. She said she refused both offers, firmly telling Booth she had children and had never given any indication she was open to that type of discussion.
The woman claimed Booth later began covering himself with just a handkerchief instead of a towel and that she began discreetly recording their interactions on her mobile phone, tucked into her pocket.
“I started recording because whenever the cover fell, he asked me to pick it up and cover him,” she said. “He said it’s not his job to cover himself.”
Describing the emotional impact of the experience, she said: “I am actually afraid, there is fear in my chest, but I did my best not to show him. I was scared and nervous. I cannot really explain how I felt, but I was scared and nervous.”
The woman also alleged that Booth had asked her personal and inappropriate questions, including queries about her ex-husband’s body.
During cross-examination, Booth’s advocate, Brian McConachie KC, suggested that the woman had accepted the terms of the job, which included full-body massage and “body care”, as outlined in prior emails. The court heard she had initially hesitated but eventually agreed to take on those tasks after being told flexibility was required.
“I said to my husband ‘I will try to do it,’” she told the court. “I have no choice, I need to accept this job. I need to send money to my children every month.”
Mr McConachie argued that her contract allowed her to refuse any duties that made her uncomfortable and to leave the post at any time, with assistance offered for travel home and any outstanding wages settled. When asked if she had ever requested to change her duties, she replied no.
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The court also heard from the woman’s husband, who said he encouraged her to begin recording Booth’s behaviour after she told him she was uncomfortable. He said the recordings would act as proof of Booth’s actions “if anything happened to her”.
He denied Mr McConachie’s suggestion that the recordings were part of a plot to extort £10,000 from Booth, calling the allegation “rubbish”.
“She wanted to carry on working there,” he said, “and it broke when he broke her.”
Booth denies the charge under the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 of directing sexual communication at a woman without her consent for his own sexual gratification.
The trial, before Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald, is due to resume on 7 August.
