Bournemouth man found not guilty of child sex offences

Richard Derek Coulson was found not guilty of three child sex offences by a jury following a trial at Bournemouth Crown Court.

The allegations related to an incident in the toilets at Pier Approach on Saturday, May 7, last year.

Mr Coulson admitted engaging in sexual acts with the boy but maintained he had twice asked the boy whether he was over 16. When giving evidence, Mr Coulson told jurors the complainant had told him he had turned 16 two weeks prior.

Prosecution barrister Richard Witcombe told the court Mr Coulson, 52 and of Merlewood Close in Bournemouth, did not have a reasonable belief that the male he had sexual activity with was aged 16 or over.

Bournemouth Crown Court

On Monday, Mr Witcombe suggested to Mr Coulson that a “reasonable man” would not have taken the boy saying he was 16 at face value.

“You were never going to put the brakes on the encounter, were you Mr Coulson?” he asked.

The boy himself gave tearful evidence at the trial and recounted how he had been at a house party the night before where he engaged in drinking with his friends.

Following arguments and separation from his friends, he ended up at Bournemouth Pier the following morning and encountered Mr Coulson.

While maintaining he did not want sexual contact with Mr Coulson, the boy admitted he did not ask the man to leave the cubicle.

Following the encounter, the boy was said to have called his friend over the phone – telling her “I think I might have been raped”.

The court also heard a recording of the encounter had been made by the boy, but was deleted prior to being shown to police as the boy thought it was “a bit pointless”.

Defence barrister Malcolm Gibney asked Mr Coulson about the boy’s conduct in the toilet which he said was indicative of someone who “knew what he was doing”.

Public toilets at Pier Approach in Bournemouth after the incident in May 2022

“His actions spoke louder than words,” Mr Coulson said as he recounted actions by the boy apparently initiating sexual acts.

Mr Gibney also drew the jury’s attention to ‘inconsistencies’ in the boy’s story from the early police interviews to his giving evidence in court.

While recognising Mr Coulson’s conduct on the day was “unbelievably stupid”, Mr Gibney said his client could not have done any more to check whether the boy was over 16 and was not in court to be judged on “issues of morality”.

The 12 jurors deliberated for five hours and 34 minutes on Tuesday, March 14, before returning not guilty verdicts on all counts.