NHS manager who bragged 'I am better than a man' jailed for 12 months over lesbian sex attack



Cottingham was jailed for 12 months after admitting sexual assault

An NHS manager who bragged: 'I'm better than a man' during a lesbian attack was jailed for a year yesterday.

Teresa Cottingham, 35, drunkenly floored another woman with a martial arts move in a hotel room before throttling her and forcing a sex act on her.

Cottingham, who has since married a man, had travelled up from Eastbourne to North London on January 26 last year to attend a conference.

After checking into the Premier Inn hotel in Euston she joined a group in a nearby pub where she became 'almost senseless' with alcohol, Blackfriars Crown Court heard.

The victim, who was known to her, escorted her back to the hotel in a taxi.

Adam Davis, prosecuting, said: 'In the hotel room the defendant collapsed onto the bed. She started to get undressed. Ms Cottingham asked the victim to make a cup of tea.

'The victim had her back to the defendant and it seems the defendant tried to pull her back onto the bed by the waistband of her shorts.



'She refers to the defendant as keeping on trying to pull her onto the bed.'

The young woman warned her: 'Look Teresa, you'll regret this in the morning' and finished making the bedtime drink.'

But Cottingham shouted 'You know you want it, you've been parading your a*** in front of me'.

'The defendant then pulled her onto the bed and there was a struggle,' added the prosecutor.

As she tried to subdue her victim, she bragged: 'I know what I'm doing - I'm better than a man.'

The victim at first thought Cottingham was joking, but realised she meant business when she tripped her over with the martial arts move, causing her to hit her head on a cupboard.

The attack happened in this Premier Inn hotel in North London after Cottingham was helped home by her victim

The barrister said: 'There was a certain amount of wrestling, with the complainant making it perfectly clear she didn't want to participate. Cottingham got more aggressive and forceful.'

The woman, who cannot be identified, took advantage of a pause to hoist herself onto the bed and away from Cottingham, who demanded to know: 'What do you want?' and was told: 'Get off me.'

'The victim's shorts and underwear had been taken off by this point, said the prosecutor, who added that the victim was grabbed by the throat.

'She was pushed back and every time she tried to move, her throat was squeezed harder.'

It was then that she performed the sex act on her victim.

The court heard that Cottingham eventually said: 'If you're not comfortable with this, I'll stop', but the victim told her it was 'too late for that'.

Cottingham then fell asleep, leaving the woman alone.

When Cottingham was arrested on February 5 she claimed the drunken incident was between 'two consenting adults' but confessed she had carpet burns on her knees.

She eventually changed her plea to guilty on the first day of her trial on January 4 this year, despite being unable to recall much of what happened.

Sharon Bailey, defending, urged Judge Ian Karsten QC to suspend any prison sentence because Cottingham, who acted 'completely out-of-character' has already suffered enough.

The court was told the mother-of-one has been sacked from her position with Sussex Partnership, a mental health trust, over the 'devastating' scandal.

Cottingham, of Lewes, East Sussex who admitted sexual assault, had managed to get a job in a pub but was forced to leave after her secret got out.

'She had a professional position with a good salary,' said Ms Bailey.

'She is no longer able to keep up with her outgoings and this may result in her being made bankrupt.'



The barrister added that Cottingham had married a man - who wept in the public gallery - just last week.

But the judge said: 'If this had been a man doing this, everyone would say "he has got to go down".' He added: 'This was a horrid attack.

'I accept you were drunk and that had you not been, you would not have done anything like that.

'It was a violent assault and humiliating for the victim. The impact statement shows it's really had long-term serious effects on her.

'As sex assaults go I have to say it really is a bad case.'