Manchester nurse who looked down barmaid's top 'for banter' said she was being provocative

A Manchester nurse who looked down a barmaid's top on a night out said she was being 'provocative'.

Aaron Peter Fussell, a clinical adviser at the Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Trust, was suspended by a tribunal this month after the incident at a bar in Trafford.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) heard how Fussell, who was out with a friend, pretended he couldn't hear the barmaid as she came over to speak to them about the bill.

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As she leaned in to speak, the nurse of 15 years pulled her t-shirt away from her chest and 'raised his head as though looking down her top'.

After the incident was reported to police, Fussell admitted that he had pulled the neck of the barmaid's t-shirt 'approximately an inch away' from her chest. Attempting to explain his actions he said it was 'a bit of fun for banter' after the two had had a verbal exchange.

He added: "I felt that she was slightly provocative by leaning over the table."

Fussell was charged in July 2020, seven months after the incident occurred. He appeared at Greater Manchester Magistrates' Court in December 2020 and pleaded guilty to intentionally touching a woman in a sexual manner without consent.

He was given a community order, a curfew and ordered to pay £200 in compensation to the victim.

Giving a statement to the NMC about his conduct, Fussell said that it was not his intention to cause distress, upset, exposure 'or any form of sexual gratification'.

He said that he was 'immediately upset' when he realised he had upset the woman and recognised that his actions had been 'deeply upsetting'.

"Despite my intentions at humour and