Surrounded by young women, he hid a dark secret as he strutted around the office surveying his kingdom
24.11.2023 - 07:09
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A successful business empire. A devoted wife. Four doting children.
Lawrence Jones had everything, it seemed. Beneath it all, there was a dark secret.
In his mid 20s, he lived in an apartment off Regent Road in Salford. At that flat, he 'stupefied' two women with an unknown drug before raping them.
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Years later, Jones strutted around the UKFast office in Hulme, surveying his kingdom. Colleagues didn't know he was a rapist who hadn't faced justice.
On Thursday (November 23), a jury convicted him of two counts of rape following the separate incidents in the early 1990s. A decade after those attacks, he would commit sexual assault.
Jones was found guilty in relation to that incident in January. That conviction can only now be revealed following the decision of jurors in the more recent trial.
The first jury heard the founder of the Manchester tech company appeared confident, outgoing and friendly with staff. 'Beer Fridays', office games and trips away to his ski chalet were reserved for his closest employees, who he deemed 'friends'.
There was another, deeply uncomfortable, side to Jones' friendly banter. His hiring of young people, particularly young women, appeared to reveal a sinister truth.
The prosecution in the first trial alleged Jones 'behaved in a grooming and predatory way towards attractive young women'. He used his position as a boss to 'get what he wanted', the court heard.
He would build women up, flatter them and tell them how 'hot' they were, before making advances, the court heard. If they didn't react in the way he wanted, he told them they were 'uptight' and that they