I was sexually harassed by a lottery winner while taking my daughter to school – he made disgusting comments
A HORRIFIED mum says she was sexually harassed by a perv lottery winner on the school run – forcing her to get a restraining order.
Sabrina Cowley, 43, thought Simon Rowland, 50, was just a friendly parent when he began chatting to her in the schoolyard.
But she became terrified after the sex pest made sickening comments about “erections at school” and sat on a wall outside her house.
Mum-of-three Sabrina, from Knutsford, Cheshire, recalled: “I tried to ignore him for as long as I could, but it got very awkward in the playground.
“It was cringey at first but then I started to feel intimidated and anxious.”
Sabrina got chatting to Rowland – who won £44,000 on a scratch card in 2017 – early in the summer of 2022 during drop off at their children’s’ primary school.
Rowland told the mum about an accident which led to his leg being amputated, forcing him to become a stay-at-home dad.
Sabrina explained: “He was fine at first, just another parent.
“But then he started saying: ‘Hello beautiful’ and telling me how nice I looked.
“I run classes in pole fitness and I am used to men occasionally trying to overstep the mark, thinking they can push the boundaries, so I just gave him the cold shoulder.”
But one day when the mum was clipping in her daughter’s car seat, Rowland came up behind her and said: “Well, Christmas has come early.”
The mum scolded the “sleaze-ball” for “being inappropriate” but just days later she saw the menace sitting on a pub wall opposite her home.
Things went from bad to worse as pest Rowland whinged to Sabrina about his marriage then told her he was living in a hotel.
“He gave me his room number and said I should join him if I fancied some company. Obviously I declined,” Sabrina revealed.
But just “days later” Rowland tapped on Sabrina’s car window.
He told her: “You looked so fit in that little black skirt the other day. I’ve never come out of school with an erection before.”
“I was appalled, and I decided enough was enough. I couldn’t even take my daughter to school without sexual harassment,” she said.
Sabrina had had enough and reported the perv to the school before calling the police to say she was being harassed, something she was the victim of in the past.
“I was determined not to make the same mistake again”, she explained.
In November 2022, Rowland, of Knutsford, Cheshire, admitted harassment without violence.
He was sentenced to a community order and issued with a 12-month restraining order and ordered to pay £395 costs.
Sabrina said it’s vital men and women feel confident to call out sexual harassment.
She added: “I found the courage to speak out against a school-run sleaze ball and I think other women will be safer for it.
“It’s not OK for certain men to treat women like objects and say whatever comes into their heads.
“Attitudes have to change, and I hope I can help by speaking out.”
