Philip Waltham 47

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The owner of The Vintage Store clothes business has been convicted of sexually assaulting a young woman after intimately touching her and telling her: "This is what you want."

Philip Waltham made local and national headlines last year when he revealed that he was previously homeless and had sold copies of the Big Issue in London for three years in the 1990s to escape from his drug-taking past. He went on to set up a popular multi-million pound chain of clothes stores.

He kissed a woman on the lips "full on" and touched her in what seemed to be "sexually motivated" advances towards her, Hull Crown Court heard. Waltham, 46, of Ella Street, Hull, denied three offences of sexual assault against the woman last year, but he was convicted by a jury after a trial. He also denied intimidating another woman, who was a witness in the case this year, and he was cleared of that charge.

Recorder Simon Jackson KC said that the woman claimed that Waltham kissed her on the lips "full on". The prosecution claimed that the kiss was "sexually motivated", but Waltham denied that it happened.

The woman also claimed that Waltham grabbed her jacket and pulled her back towards him before putting his hand on her waist under her jacket. She claimed that he touched her on her hips and told her: "This is what you want." She claimed that he moved his hand towards her bottom.

The woman also claimed that he grabbed her hand and placed it on his private parts when he was seemingly aroused. She had "no romantic or sexual interest" in Waltham, said Recorder Jackson.

The prosecution had claimed that Waltham made "indirect threats" to another woman after an investigation was launched into the sexual assaults. He was said to have asked the second woman: "Do you think I did it?"

Waltham claimed that he was not trying to influence the second woman in any way. He agreed during a police interview that he had spoken to her, but he denied talking about the case.

Recorder Jackson said that Waltham told the jury during his defence evidence that he was in the "fashion business" and was the owner of The Vintage Store, originally based in Hull, but also with stores in places including Sheffield, Liverpool and Newcastle. There was a "huge warehouse" at the former Topshop premises in the St Stephen's shopping centre, Hull.

Waltham claimed that the allegations of sexual assaults by the woman were false and were "lies". He claimed that there had been no physical contact between them.

After the verdicts from the jury, sentence was adjourned for reports and Waltham was allowed bail until the next hearing. An updated victim impact statement will be requested. Waltham was not ordered to register as a sex offender, but he will have to do so at the next hearing.

In an interview published on Hull Live in January last year, Waltham revealed that he sold the Big Issue for three years after running away from his Hull home as a teenager to escape his drug addiction.

He said: "The Big Issue helped me put money in my back pocket and feed myself. They taught me how to respect myself. They taught me how to budget my money and how important a roof was.

"I had to have money to buy Big Issues so I could sell Big Issues and that taught me how to budget. The thing that has saved my life is selling second-hand clothes and I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the Big Issue."

After three years as a Big Issue vendor in Clerkenwell and Hampstead, London, Waltham opened a market stall in Camden. He said of his sustainable clothes business: "We fight fast fashion. We save clothing from landfills, we go to big factories and take clothing.

"Last year, we saved around 600 tonnes of clothing and then repurposed them to sell on." His firm, Bulk Vintage Wholesale, was turning over more than £9m a year, it was reported at the time of the interview last year.