Latest Offenders

Description

A man has been jailed for a “humiliating and degrading” sex attack on a young woman at a property in Harrogate.

Andrew Reekie, 33, left the woman “haunted” and an emotional wreck following the “absolutely disgusting” assault, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Shaun Dodds said the victim tried to kick Reekie off her during the assault and told him to “get off”. She was crying afterwards and told a friend what had happened.

Reekie told her she “wouldn’t dare ring the police” but she plucked up the courage to do so.

Reekie, of Bramham Drive, Jennyfields, was brought in for questioning two months after the attack but refused to answer police questions.

He was charged with sexual assault but denied the offence, only to plead guilty on the day of trial in January. He appeared for sentence yesterday.

The court heard he had previous convictions for serious violence, public disorder, acquisitive crime, possessing an offensive weapon, robbery, criminal damage and breaching court orders.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said that “life as I knew it came to an abrupt and sudden halt” following the sex attack. She added:

“I was paralysed (with fear) and completely helpless.”

She said she was “powerless” to stop Reekie and she had felt an inexplicable but “overwhelming shame” since the incident, adding:

“I felt completely alone and unable to trust anyone.

“The sound of his voice will (continue) to play in my head. It was like a knife in my guts.”

Nightmares and shame

She said that after the attack she “couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep or socialise”.

She had nightmares of other women being sexually assaulted and she was “more and more anxious that it was going to happen to somebody else”.

She said that even reporting the attack only “intensified the shame” and she developed serious mental-health problems.

It had affected her work and she had felt “traumatised” about the prospect of giving evidence in court.

Description

A man has been charged with raping a teenage girl after paying for her sexual services.

27-year-old Jack Ball appeared at Swindon Magistrates’ Court this morning (Wednesday).

He pleaded not guilty to the rape of a girl aged 13 and paying for the sexual services of a girl aged 13 – both alleged offences are said to have happened on the same date in 2021.

The defendant, of Kirkstall Close, Toothill, Swindon, was supported by two women who attended with him and watched the proceedings in the public gallery.

Natalie Cheesman, prosecuting, did not outline further details about the offences due to the fact a charge of rape can only be dealt with in a crown court.

The case was adjourned to Swindon Crown Court on 31 March for a plea and trial preparation hearing.

Description

Unpaid work for Perth paedophile who posted photos of local schoolgirls and shared sick rape fantasies on Grindr.

In one vile message, Innes said he got aroused every time he drove or walked past a school

Description

A sleazy coked-up pervert who repeatedly sent pictures of his penis to a 13-year-old girl refused to speak to the Sunday World after being approached about his sick crime.

Gavin Anthony Gillen was jailed at Newry Crown Court for 10 months yesterday, for sexual communication with a child – just 24 hours before his older brother James Gillen is due to be sentenced in the same court for shooting a man with a crossbow.

Gillen also sent a series of sexually explicit images to the child just over two years ago and then claimed he couldn’t have done such a thing because he’s gay.

Last Wednesday the court heard even though he knew full well he was almost 30 years older than the schoolgirl, 43-year-old Gillen still engaged the child in a series of flirtatious, sexually explicit messages, telling the teenager “she was a total honey”.

Gillen, from Milfort Avenue in Dunmurry, was due to be sentenced after he confessed to one count of sexual communication with a child “for the purposes of obtaining sexual gratification” but Judge Peter Irvine KC adjourned the case and said he wanted to reconsider all of the papers before deciding what to do with the creep.

The Sunday World went to Gillen’s door to ask him about his sickening crime but he refused to open the front door.

Sources have told theSunday World that Gillen rarely answers the door as he owes so many people money, often related to his consumption of drugs.

And we have learned from sources who know Gillen he has a habit of sending unwanted sexual explicit messages to women.

Prosecuting counsel Nicole Auret outlined how the offence was committed in the early hours of December 17, 2020 when Gillen began sending the girl messages.

The barrister described how Gillen began by commenting on skimpy clothes and asking her “if she had seen porn” but he then goes on to ask her “if she has seen a penis and if she has looked for pictures of penises on the web”.

“At one point he sent her two pictures of an erect penis and asked her if she thought that d**k is nice,” said Ms Auret, adding Gillen also asked “if she liked girls rather than boys”.

Ms Auret told the court Gillen sent her the d**k pics “several times” but warned her to delete them.

The police were alerted and were able to take screenshots of the messages “but that was the extent of the co-operation” of the teenager and her family, the court heard.

Arrested and interviewed, Gillen accepted he knew the girl was just 13 when sending her sexualised messages and the explicit images.

Claiming he had been in a bar drinking and taking cocaine, Gillen further claimed “he was trying to advise her to stay away from boys and said that he was a homosexual man”.

He said the images he sent were not his own penis but did accept his behaviour “was inappropriate”.

Defence counsel Conor Lunny said Gillen was “quite emotional about the devastation that his actions have done to his own life and relations with his close family”.

“I’m under strict instructions to offer sincere and full apologies, for what it’s worth, to the injured party and her family,” said the barrister.

Jailing Gillen, Judge Peter Irvine KC said legal guidelines made it clear that offences involving the sexual exploitation of children are serious and must be met with appropriate sentences.

In addition to a 10-month jail sentence, Judge Irvine ordered Gillen to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years and also imposed a sexual offences prevention order, which places prohibitions on where Gillen can live, who he can date, where he can work and what devices he is allowed.

Description

A MAN who repeatedly raped and sexually abused a vulnerable teenage girl has been jailed for 17 years.

Stephen Scholes, 55, attacked the victim at an address in Leeds during a prolonged ordeal after he plied her with alcohol on a night out. 

He denied the allegations when he was arrested and interviewed.

An investigation by detectives from the Leeds District Safeguarding Unit secured forensic evidence linking him to the offences.

Work by the force’s Digital Forensic Unit also uncovered evidence on his phone confirming that he had filmed the victim during the abuse.

He was charged with four counts of rape of a woman aged 16 or over and four counts of assault by penetration.

He pleaded not guilty but was convicted following a trial at Leeds Crown Court on Tuesday.

He was also placed on the Sex Offenders' Register.

Description

A man has been jailed after he raped a woman while on a first date.

Lee Frost will spend nearly a decade locked up after he forced himself on a woman who had agreed to go on a date with him.

Frost, 38, of Lobley Hill, Gateshead, left the woman with extensive bruising and so traumatised after the ordeal she moved house and now sleeps with a lock on her bedroom door.

Frost was arrested on suspicion of rape in Spring 2021, but denied his guilt, claiming the pair had consensual sex.

He was charged with two counts of rape but continued to deny any wrongdoing when he appeared at Newcastle Crown Court in January this year to stand trial.

A jury, however, saw through his lies, and he was found guilty of both counts.

On Monday (February 27), he was jailed for nine years, with an extended licence period of five years.

He was also made to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life.

A statement was also read out on behalf of the victim which condemned her attacker, saying he had devastated her life and left her feeling afraid in any place she tried to call home.

Northumbria Police praised the victim for finding the strength to speak to officers and for continuing to assist with the investigation, trial, and all court proceedings.

A spokesperson said: "As a force, we want to praise the victim for finding the strength to speak to officers and for continuing to assist with the investigation, trial and all court proceedings.

"Her bravery has seen her attacker jailed and we also hope it serves as a stark warning to those with an unlawfully blurred view on consent that no always means no, and no can be conveyed by more than just speech.

"If a person tells you no, attempts to push you away, freezes or very clearly becomes distressed, it is clear that they have not given you consent to touch them.

Description

A registered sex offender will now spend 40 months behind bars after being caught breaching his sexual harm prevention order and possessing indecent images of children.

Graham Phillips, 63, of Bridge Close in Staines-upon-Thames, was caught in the act by officers in our High Harm Perpetrator Unit who were monitoring him, after he was seen speaking to three children on the banks of the River Thames near Staines Town Centre on 26 August 2022.

After being arrested, officers were able to determine that he had been regularly trying to communicate with three 12-year-old boys whilst they were on summer holidays.

Phillips's mobile devices were also searched, and separate indecent images of children were discovered. He was remanded in prison and pleaded guilty to breaching his sexual harm prevention order and possessing indecent images of children. At his sentencing on Friday 17 February at Guildford Crown Court, the judge sentenced him to 40 months behind bars.

Detective Inspector Ellen McLachlan who leads the High Harm Perpetrator Unit at Staines said; "The quick and successful apprehension of Mr Phillips before his offending could escalate, is a great example of the dedication and proactive policing work done by the High Harm Perpetrator Unit. We take breaches of prevention orders extremely seriously and will act quickly and decisively to keep the residents of Surrey as safe as possible."

Description

A 45 year old former nursery worker who denied having any memory of being placed on the sex offenders register 20 years ago has been convicted of molesting a four year old Gloucester girl while baby-sitting her.

Gloucester Crown Court heard last week that the child's mother was shocked when her daughter told her how Jamie White had abused her - and then horrified to learn that he had been cautioned by police in the past for similar offending.

The Gloucester woman had trusted White, whom she knew, and was unaware he had been on the Sex Offender Register for five years for indecent assault of a nine year old girl in 2003.

White had also been accused of a similar offence in 1995 when he was working for a childrens nursery, the court was told.

White, now of Atlas Close, Speedwell, Bristol, denied sexual assault of the four year old girl when he was baby-sitting her and a sibling on Feb 20th 2020 in Gloucester.

But he was convicted last Thursday (Feb 23) and bailed to await sentence in April.

The jury of eleven - nine men and two women - saw the four year old girl describe in a video-recorded interview how White had licked her on the genitals while baby-sitting.

The jury heard that White and his partner had babysat the children several times.

Prosecutor Christopher Smyth said: “White arrived at the woman’s house by himself at 1.30pm on Feb 20th 2020 and she told him that she would be back at around 7pm. This was the first time he had babysat the children on his own.

“When the mother arrived home everything seemed normal and the children were playing happily together. White left the house at 8.25pm that evening and the mother took the children upstairs to bed.

“The mother asked her daughter if she had a good day and she replied 'Yes…and no.' Her mother queried this and the young girl said that Jamie had hit her in the face with a cloth.

“She quizzed her daughter, asking if this was while they were playing? She replied 'maybe'. The little girl then said ‘Jamie licked my vulva,’ a word she had been taught about the anatomy of her body.

“The mother was horrified by this and asked if she was telling the truth and she added that people could get into trouble for saying things like that. The girl said it was true.

"The mother then texted White saying that he’d left his scarf behind and added that her daughter had been telling her 'some pretty serious stuff.'

“He replied ‘What stuff?'in a bid to get more information. The mother did not respond.

The following morning White contacted the woman and said ‘I know I have done nothing.’ He added ‘If I am being accused of something, I have the right to know.’

The woman told White that he and his partner would not be babysitting the children again as their trust was gone

I’m not accusing you of anything, yet, but I want the full story,” she said.

When White was giving evidence, the judge, Recorder Anthony Hawks, asked him “If you hadn’t said anything inappropriate or done anything untoward, what do you think you were being accused of?”

White replied: “I don’t know, that’s why I kept asking. I didn’t think it was anything sexual.”

The jury heard that White told the mother he had been checked by the Disclosure and Barring Service and that he was clear.

The jury were told that because White had previously been placed on the sex offenders register for five years in 2003 that would have been flagged up but the mother would not have known this.

The mother contacted social services about her daughter's allegations and while she was on hold to them on the phone the four-year-old told her ‘Jamie told me not to tell anyone, but I'm telling you because I am a good girl’.

“Having reported the incident to the safeguarding team, the police become involved and the young girl was interviewed by trained offers the following day," said Mr Smyth.

While White was being cross examined by Mr Smyth during his evidence he denied that he had ever appeared at the court before.

He was repeatedly asked by the prosecutor if he did not remember accepting a police caution in January 2003 after admitting a charge of indecently assaulting a nine-year-old girl.

The case had not gone to trial because the girl's father had been reluctant to put her through the ordeal of giving evidence, the prosecutor said.

Mr Smyth also pointed out to Smyth that on the same day he had accepted the caution he had been jailed for 18 months for attempting to obtain pecuniary advantage by deception by trying to get a job at a local children’s nursery.

“This would have been a significant day in your life,” Mr Smyth said.

The jury also heard about the suspicions that social services had while White was working for another nursery in Gloucester in 1995 and had allegedly molested a four-year-old girl.

However, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to take the case to court because the girl was so young and it would be an ordeal for her to give evidence in court.

White told the police in his interview that he had played with the children and said that when she had run upstairs to the bedroom he had tickled the four-year-old and that he hadn’t licked her at all.

He was asked, ‘Are you attracted to children?’ White replied, ‘No’. ‘

Asked if fantasised over young girls he denied that he did and added ‘I’ve always got on with children. I’m not sexually interested in young girls, I am not interested in children in anyway.’

“What’s your sexual orientation?" he was asked. " A beautiful 25-year-old blonde haired girl,” he replied.

White told the jury he was annoyed when the Gloucester mother told him she did not want him to baby sit for her daughter any more and added: “I didn’t know what I was being accused of. I thought that was the end of it.

“The first thing I knew about the sexual allegations is when the police knocked my door.

“I didn’t say anything to the girl that she should not tell anybody about what happened because nothing happened. I didn’t lick her when she was naked or over or under her clothing, not even inadvertently.”

Pina Silvio, defending White, asked him about receiving a caution in 2003 for a sexual allegation on a nine-year-old girl.

“I was working at a snooker club in Gloucester and got to know a particular family with young children very well. I ending looking after them on several occasions. It was a baby-sitting situation at their home when the allegations happened. I denied the sexual allegations but I accepted the caution. I don’t even remember being in this court before,” he said.

The judge pointed out to White that he couldn’t have been given a caution, unless he had admitted the offence. White said he had done nothing wrong and claimed that he had been acquitted.

White continued to deny to the lawyers that he had been in Gloucester Crown Court before.

Ms Silvio told White: “This is a matter of record. You had to sign the sex offenders’ register for five years."

The jury took just one hour and 20 minutes to reach their guilty verdict. White will be sentenced on April 5 and he was released on unconditional bail.

Following his conviction White was placed on the sex offenders register and the length of his registration will be clarified when he is sentenced.

Description

Following a Thames Valley Police investigation, a man has been sentenced for rape and sexual assault in Slough.

Mohammad Ilyas, aged 24, of Chalvey Park, Slough was sentenced yesterday (27/2) to six years’ imprisonment.

At a previous hearing on 20 December last year, he pleaded guilty to two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault by penetration.

Ilyas will also be placed on the sex offenders register for life.

In March 2021, Ilyas raped and sexually assaulted the victim, a woman in her twenties, in Slough.

Ilyas was arrested on 4 April 2021 and charged on 27 July 2022.

Investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Thomas Harman, based at Slough police station, said: “Ilyas’s actions had a severe impact on the life of the young woman he attacked.

“Thanks to her incredible courage, strength and support, we were able to prove what happened and bring Ilyas to justice.

“I hope this case shows that we take all reports seriously and will work tirelessly to bring offenders before the courts.”

Description

A man and woman from Nottingham have been jailed for a total of 10 years for sexually abusing a child and sharing the footage online.

Christopher Binch, 36, was arrested by the National Crime Agency on 12th March 2022, after it was identified he had been discussing his sexual interest in children and uploading indecent material to an online child abuse group.

Binch shared a video and a number of images which he had taken himself of a young child being sexually abused.

When arresting him, officers seized Binch’s mobile phone and a quantity of cocaine which he confirmed was for his personal use.

Through further examination of the video, NCA investigators identified that although it was Binch filming, it was a female with a visible tattoo carrying out the abuse.  

The tattoo matched that of Binch’s partner, Lindsay Mobey, aged 34, and she was arrested three days later.

Binch’s phone was analysed and officers recovered 347 indecent images of children (IIOC) in categories A-C, as well as a number of extreme and prohibited images. The material included three sexual abuse videos which Binch had filmed himself.

Binch was remanded in custody and in November last year, he pleaded guilty to ten charges, including the sexual assault of a child under 13, the taking, making, possession and distribution of IIOC, possession of extreme pornography and one count of possession of cocaine.

In the same month, Lyndsay Mobey pleaded guilty to the sexual assault of a child under 13.

Today at Leicester Crown Court, Binch was sentenced to eight years and one month in prison, placed on the sex offenders register for life and handed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

Mobey was jailed for two years and one month and will be on the sex offenders register for five years.

The child was safeguarded early on in the investigation.

Danny Waywell from the National Crime Agency said: 

“Binch and Mobey worked together to sexually abuse a young child, which he filmed and shared with other paedophiles online.

“Their actions were calculated and abhorrent; exploiting this child to satisfy their own sexual gratifications and gain some horrific form of kudos among the like-minded online.

“Safeguarding children from sexual abuse is a priority for the NCA. We work tirelessly to identify offenders and ensure they are brought to justice so they no longer pose a threat.”

Description

Paedophile hunters posed as delivery drivers in order to get a man who was communicating indecently with children to come to his front door.

David Penney, 56, thought he was chatting to girls as young as 13 but was actually speaking to adult volunteers working with online groups who expose offenders.

Description

A "deviant" paedophile who sent sexual chats to an underage girl and asked her to transfer him money has been caged.

Loner Robert William Middlemas was already a registered sex offender when he began speaking to a 14-year-old girl on Snapchat. Middlesmas sent the vulnerable child explicit pictures of himself and requested she do the same during offending which lasted for a year between February 2020 and February 2021.

The 32-year-old would make frequent video calls to the girl whilst naked and urged her to transfer him money, which she did after borrowing money from friends and family. Middlemas' offending left the autistic teen feeling "scared" and "emotionally punished" before he was finally arrested.

On Friday, Middlemas, of Kings Field, Seahouses, Northumberland, appeared at Newcastle Crown Court via link from HMP Durham to be sentenced for engaging in sexual communications with a child, breaching a sexual risk order and possession of indecent images.

The court was told that Middlemas had been a registered sex offender since 2016 and was labelled "high risk" by Northumbria Police. But despite being the subject of a sexual risk order, he began speaking to an underage girl from the Devon area on Snapchat in February 2020. As soon as he struck up a conversation with the girl, he sent her an explicit picture of himself as well as an image involving a dog.

Andrew Finlay, prosecuting, said: "He continued to chat with her and asked if he could become her boyfriend. She told him she was 14 years old and the defendant said he was 28 years old. They exchanged numbers and the victim sent him 30 to 40 images of herself and videos on Snapchat and WhatsApp. They spoke for about a year and made video calls where the defendant would be naked."

The court heard that Middlemas had discussed meeting up with the girl for sex in a Cornwall hotel, and arrangements were made. The girl then showed up to the hotel but Middlemas didn't. Mr Finlay said Middlemas sent her a message saying he had attended the hotel but "couldn't get in touch" with her. It was soon after that he began asking for money.

Mr Finlay continued: "The victim said she sent the defendant money on seven occasions, about £1,000, to re-establish contact since it had slowed down. Her friends helped her obtain money."

His offending finally came to light in February 2021 when Devon and Cornwall Police spoke to the girl in relation to another matter and her mobile phone was analysed. The messages from Middlemas were discovered and inquiries were then made to Northumbria Police who arrested Middlemas in March 2021.

Following his arrest, his mobile phones and a tablet were seized, with one category A and one category B indecent images being found. A bank statement was also found that showed money from the girl had gone into his bank account. All of his offending put him in breach of his sexual risk order.

In a victim statement, the girl said throughout the ordeal she felt "scared because of the things he said and made me do". She said: "He made me do things I didn't want to do but felt too scared to say no. He would give me demands of things that I had to do and would tell me how to dress. I felt like he was punishing me emotionally." The girl added she "isolated" herself in her bedroom and missed a year of school and her GCSEs due to Middlemas.

The court was told Middlemas had six previous convictions and had been the subject of a suspended sentence, which finished just 18 days before he began speaking to the girl.

Nick Lane, defending, said Middlemas was "somewhat of a loner-type figure" who had been involved in failed relationships and unemployment. He said: "He has a history of development issues going back to childhood. He has autistic spectrum disorder and has suffered from severe depression and self-harm." Mr Lane added that Middlemas had "family support" and that he "very much regrets his actions and will accept the sentence of the court".

Sentencing Middlemas, Recorder Benjamin Nolan KC said the victim was a "very vulnerable child" who was sending him money at his request. He said: "This was a serious and persistent breach. You are a paedophile with a deviant sexual interest in children."

Middlemas was given an 11-year extended prison sentence, six years of which will be custodial. A lifelong sexual harm prevention order was also imposed and he will be on the sex offenders' register for life.

Description

A PERVERT jailed for shoving a courgette down the front of his leggings before simulating a sex act in front of shoppers and children is back behind bars.

“Persistent sex offender” Geoffrey Chambers, 68, from Newport has been locked up for breaching an order regulating his use of the internet.

That sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) was imposed in February 2021 after he’d “paraded himself” in Hereford while making eye contact with women.

Tabitha Walker, prosecuting, said Chambers was arrested in Cwmbran town centre last August after police received reports he was “following young women around and filming them”.

There was no evidence of him doing this but officers searched him and found two mobile phones that had wiping apps which were prohibited by the terms of his SHPO.

The defendant, formerly of Cwmbran, now Clarence Place, Newport, admitted the breach.

Cardiff Crown Court heard Chambers was jailed for 22 months in 2021 after being caught exposing himself on a crowded beach at Barry Island when it was packed with thousands of sunseekers.

He was spotted stroking himself near a group of teenage girls.

A judge told him on that occasion he was “addicted” to flashing.

Chambers has 33 previous convictions for sex offences – the majority for exposure – dating back to the early 1980s.

Ruth Smith, representing him, said: “He’s a defendant who has struggled with a compulsion to expose himself in the past.

“He’s someone who has indicated a willingness to engage in programmes and is making the most of the use of his time in custody.”

Judge Paul Hobson told Chambers: “You are a committed and persistent sex offender.

“You were warned about this software and it seems to me the breach was deliberate.”

Chambers was jailed for 12 months and told he would serve half of that time in custody before being released on licence.

He was ordered to pay a victim surcharge following his release from prison.

Description

THE MoD has been blasted after a predatory instructor was jailed for a campaign of sexual assault and harassment.

Army Corporal Simon Bartram, 32, targeted teenage girl recruits, some as young as 16.

He sexually assaulted one on a training exercise and routinely walked in on them when they emerged naked from the showers.

The married father of one told a teen: Id have a threesome with you and your mother, praised anothers nice bum and t*ts and pestered one to show him a tattoo on her bottom.

He was detained for 20 months but Emma Norton, of the Centre for Military Justice, urged the Ministry of Defence to do more to protect recruits.

She said: Time after time, we see it taking the smallest steps it thinks it can get away with at the expense of fundamental reforms.

Bartram, of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, was accused of targeting six girls over nine months between 2020 and 2021 at a military college in the north of England.

All were left profoundly distressed, the military court at Catterick, North Yorks, heard.

One suffered from PTSD and another left the Army.

Bartram, of Hull, denied 22 charges, but was found guilty of nine and sent to the Military Corrective Training Centre in Colchester.

He was also stripped of his rank and dismissed from the Army.

An Army spokesman said: The Army has zero tolerance when it comes to sexual harassment and personnel convicted of a sexual offence will be dismissed.

Description

A young woman was forced to give up her job after being followed and attacked on her way to work in Bradford last year.

The woman, who must not be identified for legal reasons, had been walking along Manchester Road at about 6am when she became aware of 27-year-old Patrik Lukacs crossing the road and walking right up behind her.

Bradford Crown Court heard on Friday that Lukacs, a father with a long-term partner, told the woman she was “looking good” and asked for her number. Prosecutor Philip Standfast said the woman refused to give him her number, but tried to get rid of him by saying he could add her in Facebook.

The court heard that Lukacs followed the woman all the way to the Ripley Street area where he then began groping her bottom and between her legs. Mr Standfast said: “He went to hug her from behind and tried to pick her up."

The woman was telling him “no”, but Lukacs then tried again to pick her up and take her into a snicket near some flats.

“He tried to grab her hand, but she told him she was not going with him because she had to get to work,” said Mr Standfast.

Lukacs, of Denbury Mount, Holme Wood, Bradford, continued to grope the woman and followed her all the way to her workplace. The court heard she was in tears when she arrived in work and a friend alerted the police after she told him what had happened. The complainant’s jeans were tested and DNA linked to Lukacs was found on them.

Lukacs was arrested a week later and denied sexually assaulting the woman. He suggested that she “quite liked him” and nothing happened that she did not want. But at a court hearing in January Lukacs admitted the two charges of sexual assault and on Friday he was jailed for 18 months.

Mr Standfast said as a result of the attack the complainant had given up her job because she felt unsafe going to work along the same route.

Barrister John Batchelor, for Lukacs, said his partner had been away and his client had been out drinking with friends. He suggested that Lukacs may have been more drunk than he recalled.

Recorder James Baird said the woman had made it clear to Lukacs that she did not want his attention and he had persisted in following her. He said the complainant had been left feeling anxious all the time and found it difficult to sleep.

Lukacs will now have to register as a sex offender with the police for the next 10 years and he is also subject to an indefinite restraining order which bans him from contact the complainant.