It was described as ‘nasty and unpleasant’ in court
Tom Reed(Image: Humberside Police)
A woman was left “shocked and distressed” after a man suddenly intimately touched her from behind as she walked home down an alleyway. Tom Reed made a lewd suggestion to her during the “traumatic” and “nasty” confrontation, Hull Crown Court heard.
Reed, 27, of Withernsea, but recently in custody on remand, was deemed unfit to stand trial accused of sexual assault on March 17 last year and a jury was asked to decide whether he did the acts that formed the prosecution case. The jury found, in his absence, that he did do so.
Recorder Geraldine Kelly KC said that the woman was walking down an alleyway between two bungalows in Withernsea at 4.15pm. She felt a tap or push on her shoulder and heard the voice of a man saying: “Excuse me.”
The man grabbed her by her shoulders and pulled her towards him. He moved and rubbed his hands down her back. “She did not know who it was behind her,” said Recorder Kelly. The man put his hand on the woman’s shoulders and pulled her towards him so that his body touched hers. She turned to look and saw his face for a couple of seconds.
“She threw him off her and was face to face with him,” said Recorder Kelly. “She was in shock at first. She did not at first realise what was happening. He stepped back.
“She said nothing but then she said ‘F*** off’.” The man made a sexual suggestion and the woman told him that she was going to telephone the police.
“He said nothing,” said Recorder Kelly. “He calmly walked off as though nothing had happened. She did not recognise him. She carried on going through the alleyway. They went their separate ways.”
When the woman got home, she immediately telephoned the police. She saw the man behind her walking in the same direction on the opposite side of the road.
“He ended up going past her,” said Recorder Kelly. The woman was 100 per cent sure that it was the same man as earlier. “She recognised him from the alleyway,” said Recorder Kelly. “This was a traumatic event.”
The man walked into a nearby house and she later saw him – identified as Reed – being led away by police. He was arrested at 4.51pm. Her telephone call had been at 4.21pm.
Oliver Shipley, prosecuting, told an earlier hearing: “The incident caused her to be shocked and distressed. There is no reason to doubt her credibility.” She was distressed during the 999 call.
Stephen Robinson, representing Reed, said: “Something did happen. It was nasty and unpleasant but, happily, brief and it did not get any worse. It will have been very upsetting for her.”
A hospital order was made on Reed. He was due to remain in custody until a move to a medium-secure hospital in the Doncaster area can be arranged.
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