MAN JAILED FOR INDECENT ASSAULT
A BEAMINSTER man found guilty of indecently assaulting a teenage girl has been sentenced to a year in prison and will be on a two-year licence when he is released.Adrian Gale, 29, of St James, was convicted at Dorchester Crown Court last month after the jury heard how he followed a 14-year-old girl and made a lewd comment about her breasts before brushing past her.
He was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday.
The victim and three of her friends and a dog had gone for a walk in Beaminster playing fields last August when they saw Gale coming towards them, using his mobile phone.
The group started to get nervous after he followed them closely and trod on the heels of one of the girls.
They crossed the road to try to get away and became frightened after he suddenly appeared again and made eye contact with the girl.
At the previous hearing, Garth Richardson, prosecuting, said: "He made comment about her breasts, then he deliberately pushed by her even though there was plenty of room for him to pass." The girl's mother took her and another friend, who witnessed the assault, to Beaminster Police station, where a constable took them out to see if the offender could be identified.
The girls picked out Gale a few minutes later and also identified him on video.
The jury also heard how Gale was arrested on August 28 but denied the allegations and put forward an alibi.
Gale told the court he had been mowing the lawn for his sister's neighbour in Hogshill Mead when the assault took place.
He denied following the girls or seeing anyone fitting their description.
He claimed he'd been for a walk from a friend's house in Gerrards Green to Hogshill Mead without meeting anyone and made only one call on his mobile phone.
Checks on his phone bill revealed he had made five calls, including one at the time of the indecent assault.
At the end of the two-day trial Judge Roger Jarvis released Gale on bail and ordered pre-sentence reports to be prepared.
