Morning:
8°c
Dominatrix cleared of blackmailing doctor
Chris Laker10 Sep 2009
A dominatrix was cleared today of blackmailing her Botox doctor after secretly filming him engaged in a sex act.
Marion Burton was alleged to have demanded £20,000 after obtaining the covert footage last October at a Berkshire clinic where the man, identified only as Doctor X, was working.
The 50-year-old grandmother, originally from Germany but now living in Maple Crescent, Slough, Berks, denied blackmail and was found not guilty by a jury of eight women and four men after a trial at Reading Crown Court.
She burst into tears and covered her face as the verdict was read out after the jury spent two-and-a-quarter hours deliberating.
Her husband Terry Burton, 51, admitted blackmailing Doctor X in January and will be sentenced at a later date.
Mrs Burton told the court during the week-long trial that she felt compelled to film the doctor performing a sex act on himself to prevent him doing it in front of anyone else.
She said she would do the same thing again if she had to.
Speaking outside court, Mrs Burton, accompanied by 27-year-old son TJ, said: "I know I haven't done anything wrong. I just met a freaky, pervert doctor.
"Because of my job, I didn't go straight to the police. They would say - here's a dominatrix and here's a doctor, and they would never believe me.
"I'm an ordinary woman, but it just so happens I'm a dominatrix."
She said she now plans to inform the General Medical Council and the police about the doctor's alleged actions.
Doctor X previously told the jury he felt "intimidated and threatened" by the blackmail attempt.
He said he did not initiate sexual contact with Mrs Burton, and stressed that he did not do anything without her consent.
Standing outside the court, Mrs Burton clutched a beaded cross that her four-month-old granddaughter had kissed for good luck this morning, and thanked her family for their support.
She said: "It's been very stressful, and I haven't slept in days.
"I knew I wasn't guilty. But it's very scary when you are in front of 12 strangers who have to decide about your life."
