British tech tycoon Lawrence Jones responsible of rape and sexual assault

Expertise entrepreneur Lawrence Jones has been discovered responsible of raping two girls within the early Nineties and of sexually assaulting a 3rd lady a decade in the past whereas she labored at UKFast, the web-hosting enterprise he based. 

The 55-year-old was on Thursday unanimously convicted of raping the 2 girls in Manchester 30 years in the past. He was convicted of the sexual assault in January however that majority verdict couldn’t be reported till now due to a reporting restriction.

Jones, as soon as dubbed Britain’s “cloud computing king”, was thought-about some of the influential expertise magnates within the UK with an estimated wealth of about £700mn.

However his enterprise empire started to crumble in 2019 after the Monetary Instances revealed an investigation into his office conduct and remedy of feminine staff, prompting him to stop the corporate he based 20 years earlier.

The 2 girls Jones raped within the Nineties, who have no idea one another, mentioned in courtroom that Jones attacked them in his flat on separate events after he gave them a substance that left them stupefied and unable to combat him off. 

They each knew Jones socially by his work on the time as a pianist at native lodges and pubs throughout Manchester earlier than his enterprise profession took off, the November trial in Manchester Crown Courtroom heard.

Jones, who later gained a outstanding public profile as a self-styled straight-talking enterprise guru, claimed he had by no means met one of many girls and mentioned he had a consensual sexual relationship with the second.

In a separate trial in January Jones was discovered responsible of sexually assaulting a 3rd lady — a former worker at UKFast — whereas she accompanied him on a enterprise journey to London a decade in the past.

Jones has been held in custody because the January conviction.

The daddy-of-four was acquitted of sexually assaulting and raping a fourth lady, one other former UKFast worker, on the January trial.

The result of the January trial couldn’t be reported till the second trial concluded this month to keep away from prejudicing the jury. Jones’s sentencing on all three convictions will happen in per week. 

Jurors within the November trial heard harrowing particulars of the rapes Jones dedicated. 

One of many girls mentioned she had recognized Jones within the Nineties as a result of he dated certainly one of her buddies on the time.

She advised the courtroom she thought-about Jones obnoxious after he made an inappropriate sexual comment about her love life the primary time they met, telling her she wanted “a very good fucking”.

She mentioned she agreed to have a “Christmas drink” at his flat in late 1993 as a result of she felt she owed it to her buddy to make an effort with him. 

As soon as on the flat, she mentioned she had a glass of pink wine and some puffs of a spliff, however rapidly turned fully disoriented. She mentioned she believed she might have been drugged, and that Jones proceeded to have intercourse together with her towards her will.

She advised the courtroom that when she resisted him, Jones shouted at her and known as her “a prick tease”. Jones denied having ever met the girl.

The second lady within the November trial mentioned she was at Jones’s flat when he requested her to smell a liquid from a small medicinal bottle, which instantly made her really feel woozy and “actually out of it”. Whereas she was incapacitated, she mentioned Jones had intercourse together with her.

She recalled the assault was painful as she had not been anticipating it and described his assault as “opportunistic”.

At trial Jones denied raping the second lady and mentioned he had a consensual sexual relationship together with her, however that he broke it off after discovering it had develop into too “intense”.

Jones additionally admitted on the stand to sometimes utilizing “poppers” — a drug that may make a person really feel excessive when inhaled — throughout sexual activity within the Nineties however mentioned he had solely ever performed so with the total consent of his sexual companions. 

Jones, who as soon as featured within the Sunday Instances wealthy checklist, had denied all the costs in each trials. In 2015, he was awarded an MBE for providers to the digital economic system.

Isla Chilton, senior district crown prosecutor for the North West Rape and Severe Sexual Offence Unit on the Crown Prosecution Service, mentioned: “Jones raped two girls with no thought for the way his actions would have an effect on them.

“By denying the offences, he compounded the hurt to the ladies, making an attempt to evade accountability for his actions. The jury noticed by his lies and located him responsible.”

The younger feminine worker within the January trial advised the courtroom that Jones attacked her throughout a piece journey in his penthouse suite, which her bed room adjoined.

She mentioned he started pulling her in direction of him regardless of her clear resistance whereas they had been sitting on a settee. Jones then demanded to see her knickers and tried to forcefully prise her thighs aside, however she managed to get away from him, ran to her room and locked the door, the jury was advised. 

The trials had been carefully adopted by former staff of UKFast, which rebranded as ANS after the preliminary prices towards Jones turned public in 2021. Beneath his management the corporate frequently featured within the Sunday Instances’ “Greatest Firms to Work For” checklist.

Greater than 30 former staff spoke to the FT in 2019 alleging a poisonous working tradition at UKFast below Jones’s management. Many claimed that sexual harassment or inappropriate behaviour by their former boss was commonplace, together with undesirable massages, conferences in sizzling tubs and saunas, and intrusive questions on their intercourse lives.

Two girls advised the FT on the time that they’d been sexually assaulted by the entrepreneur, allegations he denied. 

The previous staff additionally alleged a office tradition of concern, with Jones susceptible to indignant, unpredictable outbursts and presiding over a “rent and hearth” environment. 

Jones stood down as chief government of UKFast shortly after the FT investigation was revealed in 2019. Inflexion, the personal fairness agency that had a minority stake within the web firm on the time, purchased out Jones and his spouse Gail, additionally a director at UKFast, in 2020.