Banker jailed over ‘made up’ string vest sexual harassment claims gets sentence cut
Damilare Ajao, who was sacked in November 2019, brought an Employment Tribunal claim against the bank
A banker jailed after he "made up" claims about being sexually harassed by a female manager at work has had his sentence slashed by appeal judges.
Damilare Ajao, who worked for German finance giant Commerzbank in its client life cycle management team in London in 2019, claimed he was pestered by a manager who "flirtatiously" told him she could see his nipples and tried to touch his Gucci belt buckle in the staff canteen.
Mr Ajao, who was sacked in November 2019, subsequently brought an Employment Tribunal claim against the bank, which included allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault against the manager - who was identified in court only as "Ms Q."
The allegations centred on claims that she had made a sexualised comment about a string vest that he was wearing being visible through his shirt and that he had been forced to slap her hand away when she reached out towards his designer belt.
His claim was thrown out however, with the tribunal judge Anthony Snelson finding that the sexual harassment and assault allegations "were false and in large part made up".
The case subsequently went to the High Court in November, when Mr Ajao, of Medway, Kent, was jailed for 20 months by Mr Justice Martin Spencer for contempt of court in staging a "deliberate and wicked assault" on the manager's professional standing
Yesterday Court of Appeal judges Lord Justice Lewis and Lord Justice Miles cut his sentence to eight months, less three days already served, after hearing he has lost his marriage as well as his job and now survives on universal credit.
The judges refused to suspend his sentence to let him go free however, slamming Mr Ajao for showing "no remorse" or any sign of "understanding what he did was wrong."
"We do regard these as very serious contempts," said Lord Justice Lewis. "He made false allegations deliberately and over a period of time and he fabricated evidence in order to obtain damages.
"These actions strike at the heart of the administration of justice. We are sure that appropriate punishment can only be achieved by immediate custody."
During the contempt trial last year, the High Court heard that Mr Ajao worked for the bank at its offices in Gresham Street, in the City of London, between May and November 2019 when he was sacked, and subsequently brought his unsuccessful tribunal claim.
Among his complaints were that Ms Q had a sexual motive in her dealings with him and he claimed she became "annoyed" at his rejection of sexual advances.
He claimed the manager had told him "I fancy you" and had on several occasions over a period of months commented that she could see his skin and nipples through his shirt.
He then launched a compensation claim to an Employment Tribunal, which the bank branded a "wholly bogus claim of sexual assault and harassment," against Ms Q.
Employment Judge Snelson in April 2024 dismissed his claim and said that, although mention had been made of Mr Ajao's vest, the allegations in Mr Ajao's claim were "simply false."
The case reached the High Court last year, when Commerzbank launched a bid to have Mr Ajao jailed for contempt of court relating to his rejected allegations.
However, he denied contempt, claiming that it was his "perception" that he had been the victim of sexual harassment and assault, and that he was not deliberately untruthful.
Finding 12 counts of contempt against Mr Ajao and jailing him for 20 months and ordering him to pay £150,000 towards the bank's legal bills, Mr Justice Spencer said Ms Q had been "entirely honest and credible" in her evidence to the court.
She had never said she could see Mr Ajao's nipples, but only spoke to him in the context of a friendly relationship between people who sometimes talked about fashion.
Mr Ajao's evidence was however false, he said, adding: "There were such discrepancies, inconsistencies and impossibilities in his evidence that it was quite incapable of acceptance.
"The more I heard of his evidence the more I became sure his evidence was untrue and deliberately so."
Mr Ajao had said the comments and the alleged attempted sexual assault were the culmination of a pattern of behaviour over the summer and autumn of 2019, but the judge said it was in fact a "deliberate and wicked assault" on her professional standing.
"In my judgment, there wasn't a shred of truth in any of the allegations the defendant has made against Ms Q. I'm sure that the allegations made were untrue and deliberately so, and a deliberate attempt to deceive the tribunal, compounded by lies told to this court."
The court heard Mr Ajao had lost a successful career in finance and now relies on Universal Credit, while his marriage had also failed and he now lives alone.
Following his sentencing last year, Mr Ajao served three days in prison before being bailed pending his return to court for yesterday's appeal against the contempt findings and the sentence.
Giving judgment, Lord Justice Lewis said Mr Justice Spencer had applied the wrong sentencing guidelines when deciding on the length of Mr Ajao's sentence.
Re-sentencing him, he said Mr Ajao could count on some mitigation, including the fact he has two young children, although they live with their mother.
"We are satisfied that a sentence before reduction for mitigation in the region of 12 months' imprisonment would be appropriate for the contempts committed," he said.
"We regard a sanction of eight months' imprisonment, having regard to the seriousness of the offences and the mitigating factors, is the shortest that can be imposed."
The judges also allowed Mr Ajao's appeal against one of the 12 findings of contempt, but said it had been a "small, essentially trivial" part of the allegations and did not impact on the length of his sentence.
Mr Ajao was taken immediately to begin serving his sentence in Pentonville Prison.
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