Doctor's sex act shocked dominatrix, blackmail trial told

A dominatrix accused of blackmailing her doctor told a court yesterday of her shock at him performing a sex act in front of her.

Marion Burton, who was undergoing botox treatment at the time, said the doctor had previously been "flirty" towards her, but that the incident had come "out of the blue".

The 50-year-old later secretly filmed the doctor in a compromising position with her at the Berkshire clinic where he worked, during an appointment last October.

It is alleged she and her husband Terry then demanded £20,000 from him to keep quiet about their sexual liaisons.

Grandmother Mrs Burton, who advertised her services as a dominatrix called Mistress J, said the first incident, which she said happened last July, felt like it was not real.

Mrs Burton, a German national, told Reading Crown Court: "I was, like, numbed. It was like where you get one of those injections where you can't move or say anything.

"It was like it wasn't real, but it did happen. I just couldn't believe it. I've heard about things like that but I couldn't believe it could happen to me."

She said her husband wanted to confront the doctor as soon as she told him what happened, and added: "It was like being in a bubble, in a dream."

The doctor, who cannot be named by court order, had previously told the court that he had never instigated any sexual contact with Mrs Burton and did not know she was married.

The jury heard that Mrs Burton, of Maple Crescent, Slough, Berkshire, first met Doctor X in 2007.

The pair exchanged text messages last July ahead of her appointment, the court heard, with Mrs Burton referring to him as "Dr Feelgood".

Mrs Burton told Fiona Horlick, defending, that she used that phrase because the pair were "friendly", adding: "I didn't see a problem with that."

The mother-of-one told the court she became a dominatrix because she ran up debts after leaving her job as a mortgage broker for a Croydon firm.

The idea entered her head after watching a German film featuring a dominatrix and telling her husband: "I could do that." She then bought equipment, including a cage, from internet auction website eBay.

Mrs Burton said she earned up to £2,600 a week from her clients, who included bankers, pilots and lawyers, with some arriving at her home in sports cars and one being driven by a chauffeur.

She denies blackmail, a charge her 51-year-old husband has pleaded guilty to.