He ‘stalked’ his victim before making a move
An opportunist sexual predator “targeted” and repeatedly stared at an unsuspecting woman in a busy pub before standing very close to her at the bar and intimately touching her. He had been drinking heavily and “stalked” her for about 20 minutes before spotting his opportunity to make a move on her.
The victim was left distressed and shocked by what happened, Hull Crown Court heard. Deniss Mandruks, 26, of no fixed address, but recently in custody on remand, had been convicted after a trial before Hull Magistrates’ Court of an offence of sexual assault on May 5.
Jeremy Evans, prosecuting, said that the woman and a group of friends were in bars and pubs in the city centre. Mandruks entered the pub they were in at 1.11am after earlier drinking four or five pints of beer. Door staff twice approached him because of his “obnoxious behaviour” and he was spilling his drink and being loud and aggressive to two women.
“He was wobbly and unsteady on his feet,” said Mr Evans. Mandruks was asked to leave after the second incident but he returned. As the woman danced with others in her group, she became aware of Mandruks very close to her.
“He continued to stare at her,” said Mr Evans. “She caught his eye on four separate occasions. He had her under observation throughout this period of time and was clearly targeting her.
“He watched her, he stared at her and he stalked her.” At about 1.30am, she was at the bar area to buy another drink and she was talking to two other men.
“She wasn’t aware that the defendant had also positioned himself at the bar,” said Mr Evans. Mandruks intimately touched the woman and she asked him what he was doing.
He was arrested on August 31 when he arrived back at Leeds Bradford Airport after a period in his home country. He had no previous convictions.
Billy Torbett, mitigating, said that the behaviour of Mandruks was “wholly unacceptable” and it was an unpleasant offence. He still denied the offence but he was remorseful about the impact on the victim.
Mandruks was from Latvia and spoke Russian and he had been working in a good job for an engineering company. He had worked in several European cities but he was working in Hull at the time of the offence.
“He has no right to remain in the UK and he plans to return to Latvia,” said Mr Torbett. Mandruks had been in custody since September 2.
Judge John Thackray KC told Mandruks: “You were in a bar. Your victim was in the same bar. There was clearly some planning by you. You positioned yourself next to your victim.
“You were making eye contact and and you were standing next to her for quite some time.” The woman was left distressed and upset after the sexual assault.
“She felt preyed upon,” said Judge Thackray. “She felt powerless and unsafe. Your offending will continue to have a profound effect upon her. There was obvious targeting of your victim 20 minutes before committing the offence.”
Mandruks was jailed for two years. He must register as a sex offender for 10 years.