Michael Cross spared jail after Tickled Trout sexual assualt

Michael Cross admitted the offence which happened one night in the bar of the Tickled Trout Hotel at Samlesbury near Preston.

But even though the 18-year-old girl was left traumatised by the incident - and had to give up her job at the hotel - a judge stepped back from giving him an immediate prison sentence and instead gave him an eight-month term suspended for 22 months with a requirement to attend a sex offender programme.

He was also ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work and told to pay his victim £500 compensation for the wages she had lost by not being able to continue in her job.

The court heard Cross, 47, of Marl Hill Crescent, Preston was staying at the hotel after falling out with his partner. On the night of the assault he was said to be "very drunk."

The prosecution said the guest had gone into the hotel bar where the victim was working and was sitting on a sofa drinking pints of lager. At first she regarded him as a "friendly drunk" and tried to ignore him. He told her he had fallen out with his partner and was staying at the hotel to avoid further arguments.

At around 10:30pm she was collecting glasses when Cross told her he loved her and tried to give her a hug. She put her hand up in front of her intending to push him away. She told him: "Can you not do that, I have a boyfriend." He replied: "Sorry I didn't know that love."

A short time later Cross came back and hugged her from behind, under her arms. He kissed her on the neck and then touched her between the legs. She pushed him off and took refuge behind the bar.

"She was shocked and shaken," said Zareen Alam-Cheetham prosecuting. "She couldn't believe what he had done to her."

Later she was collecting glasses again and he came up behind her and hugged her again. "She believed he attempted to touch her again."

Colleagues came into the bar and the police were called. The victim was seen to be crying and Cross staggered outside and fell over, where police detained him.

Reading out a victim statement from the witness box the teenaged girl told the court the incident had had a "serious impact on my mental health." She said that for a long time she had been scared to leave her house and always had to be with someone else.

She said she had just turned 18 at the time and she just wanted to socialise with her friends like any other teenager, but she couldn't bring herself to go out.

"I struggled to trust anyone, which has made it difficult to make friends or form relationships," she explained. She said she didn't return to her job at the hotel because she was scared she might see her attacker again.

She told the judge she is still having therapy more than two years on from the assault, she has been prescribed medication for anxiety and her self-esteem has dropped.

Cross, who represented himself during the hearing, said he felt "terrible" at what had happened. "I'm really, really sorry," he said. "I was very drunk. I can understand the impact it has had on her."

In a pre-sentence report compiled by the probation service, Cross was said to have been ashamed by his behaviour that night and was shocked by how it had affected her.

Recorder Michelle Brown told him: "You were clearly very drunk. She has clearly been impacted significantly. This was a persistent attack on a girl doing her job. You were disgusted by what you did and you should have been.

"I have to consider whether I send you to immediate custody today or suspend that. This is a serious offence. You have expressed remorse and shock at you actions and the probation service says there is a prospect of rehabilitation. So I am satisfied that your sentence can be suspended."