‘Predatory’ Norfolk boss sexually assaulted woman in lift

Bharat Raghu, 73, plied the married woman with drink before groping and kissing her causing her to flee and lock herself in her room. 

He continued banging on the door and repeatedly tried to phone her after the incident in February 2022. 

Bharat Raghu leaves Norwich Crown Court after being sentenced for the sexual assault of an employee (Image: Newsquest)

Raghu, the founder and director of East Anglia Care Homes, which runs Sutherlands in Wymondham and Halvergate House at North Walsham, denied sexual assault but was found guilty following a trial.

Appearing at Norwich Crown Court to be sentenced he was told by Judge Andrew Shaw his “selfish and predatory” behaviour had a profound impact on the woman but that he was “utterly without remorse”. 

READ MORE: Norfolk care worker extradited from India over sex assault

He had “deliberately manipulated the situation” and steered the conversation towards sex, he added.

Judge Andrew Shaw said he had deliberately manipulated the situation and plied the woman with drink (Image: Newsquest)

He had joked about having to share a room together prior to the trip to Stratford-upon-Avon and had arranged to have wine and chocolates delivered to her hotel room.

Lori Tucker, prosecuting, said in the lift he had grabbed her and forced his tongue into her mouth.

The court was told it had been the culmination of “extra-marital attraction and obsession” by Raghu, of Caistor Lane, Caistor St Edmund. 

When the woman, who had worked at the company for four years, took on a more senior role his “increasingly unprofessional” behaviour had included touching her leg, kissing her cheek and making comments about breast size in a job interview. 

Raghu groped and forcibly kissed the woman in a hotel lift during a business trip (Image: LinkedIn)

The woman, who has since left the company and is taking Raghu to an employment tribunal, had tried to maintain professional relations but had become increasingly uncomfortable by his behaviour.

READ MORE: North Norfolk pub worker groped teenager in the bar

Michael Borrelli, mitigating, said he accepted his behaviour had caused “emotional distress” but said it had been an isolated incident.

Eighty percent of the care home staff were women and there had been no other complaints about his behaviour, he added.  

Imposing a two year community order, Judge Shaw ordered he complete 15 rehabilitation days and 150 hours unpaid work and placed him on the sex offenders register for five years.  

Noting he had employed an expensive “Rolls-Royce” defence team he also ordered he pay £8,330 towards the cost of his trial.