Case of former Rainworth FC boss accused of a raft of sexual offences stalled due to technical issues

Lewis Saxby, former manager of Rainworth FC, was due to appear remotely at Nottingham Crown Court today (Wednesday, February 17), via a Government-run Zoom system, but could not be seen or heard by the court.

Judge Stuart Rafferty QC ruled that the matters Saxby faces are so serious that it would be inappropriate for proceedings to go ahead under such circumstances, and said that the 31-year-old must physically attend court when he is next due to appear on Monday, March 1.

Saxby appeared briefly before Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, January 20, where the case was deemed so serious that it was sent to Nottingham Crown Court to be dealt with.

It is alleged that between July 2019 and January 2020, Saxby, of Lymington Road, Mansfield, blackmailed the woman by threatening to publish intimate photographs of her unless she gave him money.

It is also alleged that between December 2016 and January 2021, Saxby defrauded the woman out of more than £89,000, claiming he needed the money to fight an unfair dismissal claim, court records show.

It is separately alleged that, between July 1 and July 31, 2019, he took video footage of the same woman engaging in sexual activity with him without her permission.

It is further alleged that, between May 2018 and March 2019, Saxby tried to blackmail another woman, and demanded sexual photographs from a third woman “with menaces” between May 1 and 31, 2019.

In further charges, it is alleged that between February 2016 and May 2017, Saxby engaged in controlling behaviour in an intimate relationship - threatening a fourth woman that he would distribute intimate images of her and bombarding her with messages. He is also accused of taking sexual photographs of the woman while she was under the age of 18, records show.

No plea has yet been entered and Saxby is currently on bail.

Saxby resigned as manager of Rainworth FC in June 2020, citing personal reasons in a statement to fans.

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