South Yorkshire pervert sexually assaulted "suicidal" woman as she sat on high church wall
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Sheffield Crown Court heard on April 14 how Satpal Singh, aged 34, of Town Lane, Wingfield, Rotherham, sat beside the “suicidal” woman on a ledge above a high wall near All Saints Church, in Rotherham town centre, before he sexually assaulted her.
Andrew Bailey, prosecuting, said: “She indicated she was feeling suicidal and was on the telephone to police because she knew she needed help and was mentally unwell.”
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Hide AdThe defendant approached the woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, and told her she was being an idiot, according to Mr Bailey.
CCTV footage showed Singh sit down next to the woman and move his hand under the waistband of her jeans towards her private parts before she moved away and a police officer arrived and pulled her from the ledge.
Mr Bailey said: “The footage shows she was clearly in distress before the defendant touched her. At the time she was taking medication for her mental health and had not taken any that night. The incident made her feel violated and she wanted help.”
Singh, who has previous convictions, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the woman.
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Hide AdDermot Hughes, defending, said Singh had been under the influence of alcohol but he has since addressed his drink problems and he does not have any previous convictions of a sexual nature.
Judge Peter Kelson QC told Singh: “She was on the phone sitting precariously and weeping and you, under the influence of drink yourself, went to her and instead of being a Good Samaritan, you are shown by the CCTV to have sought to take advantage of her extremely vulnerable state by touching her private parts.”
He added: “You targeted a particularly vulnerable victim. This victim that you approached was contemplating suicide and your own alcohol consumption affords you no mitigation whatsoever. It is an aggravating factor, not a mitigating factor.”
Judge Kelson told Singh who was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years that his behaviour had been “callous” before he sentenced the defendant to nine months of custody.