And Liam Moon (28), of St Andrew’s Road, was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for two years.
Assistant Magistrate Peter Harris said that the message must be sent out that when people went out socialising ‘they should be respected, not lusted after and leered at, never mind assaulted’.
‘There is absolutely no justification for touching another person in an indecent manner,’ he said.
Police legal adviser Advocate Chris Baglin said that the assault took place in the back bar of the Trafalgar pub on an evening in July and the victim reported it to the police the following day.
The court heard that earlier in the evening the victim was out with a group of friends in St Aubin’s Wine Bar when she first encountered Moon, who was with another group of friends.
When he first saw the woman, the court was told that Moon made comments to the effect of ‘look at that a**e’.
However, that was disputed by Advocate Mike Preston, defending, who said that his client was only joking and did not mean any
harm.
The court heard that the woman did not see Moon again until about 11 pm in the Trafalgar when the assault took place.
Advocate Baglin said: ‘It is captured on CCTV that Moon takes hold of his friend’s arm/wrist and touches the top of her thigh, before moving the arm onto and over the bottom but over her trousers.’
He said that the victim turned around and told the defendant: ‘You can’t do that.’ However, his response was to say: ‘What are you going to do about it? We can do what we want.’
Advocate Baglin said that after she complained to the police, CCTV footage was taken from the Trafalgar.
Advocate Preston said that his client was very sorry about what he had done. ‘It was an ill-judged, boorish act.
‘He is mortified to have caused so much upset to the complainant,’ he said. The advocate said that the assault was out of character and that Moon was a caring, hard-working and trustworthy individual.
In sentencing, Mr Harris said to Moon: ‘It is slightly unusual, in that you used your friend’s hand to commit the offence, but that is an aggravating factor, as you put your friend at risk.’
Mr Harris also said that the victim was putting a brave face on the events ‘because regrettably this is the type of incident that has happened to her previously’.
