Thames Lido: Masseur jailed after sexually assaulting clients

Toshihide Nukui, of Oaklands, Reading, was jailed after he also admitted to digitally penetrating another woman while working as a private masseur at The Therapy Centre, having been ‘emboldened’ by his assaults at the Lido.

Reading Crown Court heard how Nukui carried out his vile assaults over a period of one year, from autumn 2018 to autumn 2019. 

Prosecutor Richard Whitcombe said: “They trusted him to do that properly, professionally and not to touch them in a way that was sexual or that overstepped the boundaries of what was expected of him.

“The last instance of sexual assault by penetration represents an escalation in what Mr Nukui was doing. 

Nukui leaving court in March 2022

“Throughout the period of time of a year, Mr Nukui was becoming emboldened by the way he was able to touch various clients.”

Three of the five sexual assault survivors gave powerful statements in person at Reading Crown Court, where Nukui was sentenced. 

The complainants and their families packed the courtroom in what was an emotional and distressing hearing. 

They heard how Nukui’s offending began in November 2018 when the 49-year-old sexually assaulted a woman who had been a member of Thames Lido since it had opened. 

The Japanese national was giving a full body massage when after 15 minutes he sexually assaulted her by pressing his erect penis into her back before he ran his fingers up her thigh and close to her genitals.

After he admitted to this offence, Nukui said he sexually assaulted the woman due to his ‘overexcitement.’

Mr Whitcombe said this experience caused the woman a feeling of ‘great discomfort.’

Nukui struck again just one month later when he was giving a full body massage to another Thames Lido customer. 

During this encounter, Nukui shifted the towel the lady was wearing so her right buttock was exposed. 

The 49-year-old then ran his fingers up the woman’s thigh a number of times before he touched her genitals. 

“She did not feel she was safe”, Mr Whitcome said, and she left the treatment room before telling Thames Lido management about what had happened. 

A third woman was sexually assaulted in July 2019 when Nukui ‘manoeuvred’ her body in a ‘way that made her question him,’ the court heard. 

He pulled her underwear down below her buttocks and touched inappropriately on her inner thigh and pressed his erect genitals against her body after repeatedly telling her she was ‘attractive’, Mr Whitcombe said. 

In September 2019, a fourth Thames Lido customer paid for a massage from Nukui. 

Thames Lido

She laid down on a bed in the treatment room and he brushed his right hand against her genitalia ‘at least six times’, the court heard. 

“I felt really awkward and my body was extremely tense”, the woman said about the assault in a police interview.

She did not raise a complaint with the Lido after giving him the ‘benefit of the doubt.’

But Nukui was reported to police in October 2019 after he sexually assaulted a private client at The Therapy Centre. 

This time, the masseur digitally penetrated his client after forcing his fingers into her underwear. 

She told him to stop and got up from her massage before Nukui told her she did not have to pay for the session. 

After leaving the treatment room, the woman was followed onto the street by Nukui. She reported him to police and an investigation commenced. 

Nukui was charged and was due to stand trial for multiple counts of sexual assault in March 2022, but this was abandoned after he pleaded guilty to five offences. 

In statements from the five survivors of Nukui’s actions, the court heard: 

• How one victim would ‘hide’ from him if she saw him again
• How another survivor was in ‘excruciating pain’ and unable to sit down for two weeks after being assaulted
• One survivor was made to feel ‘violated and vulnerable’ and like her ‘right to be safe’ has been taken away from her
• Another survivor has suffered from IBS, depression and stress since being assaulted, leading to her feelings being ‘hijacked’ by Nukui’s actions
• The fifth survivor, who had to give her evidence from behind a screen to avoid eye contact with Nukui, said she will ‘never be the same again’ after her trust was breached in the most ‘disturbing and distressing’ way

In a letter to the court read by defence barrister Lisa Jane Judge, Nukui said: “I want to take this opportunity to express my deep regret for all the harm that has resulted from my behaviour. 

“I am sorry for the hurt I have caused.”

Ms Judge said Nukui did not receive sex education growing up and that he was a “committed Christian” who ‘hoped for forgiveness’. 

“His self-imposed punishment will be one that lasts longer than the one given today.”

Her Honour Judge Real, sentencing, said Nukui’s actions appeared ‘out of character’ and had also had a ‘devastating impact’ on his own family. 

She added: “Each of these women were vulnerable once on the massage table. 

“Each of these women were not expecting to be sexually assaulted. 

“They had paid for a professional massage. You were delivering a professional service. They should have been safe.”

Judge Real handed Nukui a five-year prison sentence, of which he will serve half before release.

He was banned from practising massage until further notice and was ordered to sign the sex offenders register indefinitely. 

Nukui was sentenced at Reading Crown Court on Tuesday, July 12. 

Cries of relief were heard from the public gallery as Nukui was sent down.