The playboy son of Britain’s first black Cabinet minister was jailed for almost four years yesterday after sexually assaulting a sleeping woman. Benjamin Boateng enjoyed a champagne lifestyle, partying with celebrities including Amy Winehouse and Tracey Emin. But the 27-year-old, whose father is Lord Boateng, was a sexual predator who believed he had a ‘proprietary right’ to women. Playboy: Boateng at a party with the late Amy Winehouse in 2009. Judge Fergus Mitchell said the former actor's arrogance towards women led him to do as he pleased with them . Judge Fergus Mitchell said the former actor’s arrogance towards women led him to do as he pleased with them. The court heard the celebrity . entertainment agent assaulted a 22-year-old stranger while she was ‘dead . to the world’ after passing out in an alcoholic stupor. His victim, now 23, wept as she told . how she was attacked by Boateng at a house party after a night out . clubbing with friends on September 19 last year. When she fell asleep on a sofa, drunk on champagne and vodka, Boateng climbed on top of her and yanked down her underwear. Hiding under a quilt, he exposed . himself and sexually assaulted her. Woken by the attack, she screamed: . ‘How can you do that when I was asleep? I don’t know who you are.’ Lord Boateng and Benjamin at the Screen Nation Film & TV Awards in 2003. The court heard when the woman fell asleep on a sofa, drunk on champagne and vodka, Benjamin Boateng climbed on top of her and yanked down her underwear . Icah Peart QC, defending, said his . client was a ‘true gentleman’ with a ‘gentle nature and a routine . consideration towards women’. He added: ‘He is a man of exceptional character.’ But sentencing Boateng at Kingston . Crown Court in West London yesterday, Judge Mitchell said he had ‘taken . the opportunity to satisfy his own sexual gratification after . identifying a vulnerable female’. The judge added: ‘You have a degree of . arrogance. I wonder if you do not feel you have some sort of . proprietary right to do as you please. ‘She was obviously a vulnerable victim. She was asleep. You thought you could go ahead and do this. ‘Perhaps you didn’t think of the consequences, but what spurred you on was perhaps that attitude you had. ‘At the end of the day it has to be . imprisonment... because of the circumstances and the principle that no . woman should be treated this way.’ Boateng, who has appeared on The Bill and Grange Hill, was jailed for three years and ten months. He will also have to sign the sex offenders register. He was found guilty of sexual assault by a majority jury verdict of 10-2 last month. Yesterday it emerged that Boateng, of . Marylebone, Central London, was cautioned in March last year for . harassment after sending a former girlfriend unpleasant text messages. And in 2006 he was cleared of raping . an 18-year-old girl twice in South Africa, where his father Paul was . Britain’s High Commissioner. Lord Boateng, 60, who was Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2002 to 2005, declined to comment.
Former minister's son attacked 22-year-old who was passed out drunk .
Benjamin Boateng partied with celebrities including Amy Winehouse and Tracey Emin .
Judge: 'I wonder if you do not feel you have some sort of proprietary right to do as you please'
The playboy son of Britain’s first black Cabinet minister was jailed for almost four years yesterday after sexually assaulting a sleeping woman. Benjamin Boateng enjoyed a champagne lifestyle, partying with celebrities including Amy Winehouse and Tracey Emin. But the 27-year-old, whose father is Lord Boateng, was a sexual predator who believed he had a ‘proprietary right’ to women. Playboy: Boateng at a party with the late Amy Winehouse in 2009. Judge Fergus Mitchell said the former actor's arrogance towards women led him to do as he pleased with them . Judge Fergus Mitchell said the former actor’s arrogance towards women led him to do as he pleased with them. The court heard the celebrity . entertainment agent assaulted a 22-year-old stranger while she was ‘dead . to the world’ after passing out in an alcoholic stupor. His victim, now 23, wept as she told . how she was attacked by Boateng at a house party after a night out . clubbing with friends on September 19 last year. When she fell asleep on a sofa, drunk on champagne and vodka, Boateng climbed on top of her and yanked down her underwear. Hiding under a quilt, he exposed . himself and sexually assaulted her. Woken by the attack, she screamed: . ‘How can you do that when I was asleep? I don’t know who you are.’ Lord Boateng and Benjamin at the Screen Nation Film & TV Awards in 2003. The court heard when the woman fell asleep on a sofa, drunk on champagne and vodka, Benjamin Boateng climbed on top of her and yanked down her underwear . Icah Peart QC, defending, said his . client was a ‘true gentleman’ with a ‘gentle nature and a routine . consideration towards women’. He added: ‘He is a man of exceptional character.’ But sentencing Boateng at Kingston . Crown Court in West London yesterday, Judge Mitchell said he had ‘taken . the opportunity to satisfy his own sexual gratification after . identifying a vulnerable female’. The judge added: ‘You have a degree of . arrogance. I wonder if you do not feel you have some sort of . proprietary right to do as you please. ‘She was obviously a vulnerable victim. She was asleep. You thought you could go ahead and do this. ‘Perhaps you didn’t think of the consequences, but what spurred you on was perhaps that attitude you had. ‘At the end of the day it has to be . imprisonment... because of the circumstances and the principle that no . woman should be treated this way.’ Boateng, who has appeared on The Bill and Grange Hill, was jailed for three years and ten months. He will also have to sign the sex offenders register. He was found guilty of sexual assault by a majority jury verdict of 10-2 last month. Yesterday it emerged that Boateng, of . Marylebone, Central London, was cautioned in March last year for . harassment after sending a former girlfriend unpleasant text messages. And in 2006 he was cleared of raping . an 18-year-old girl twice in South Africa, where his father Paul was . Britain’s High Commissioner. Lord Boateng, 60, who was Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2002 to 2005, declined to comment.
lifestyle, partying with celebrities including Amy Winehouse and Tracey Emin. But the arrogance. I wonder if you do not feel you have some sort of . proprietary right to do as you