MAN VISITING WALES FOR WORK JAILED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT OF TEENAGE GIRL
A visiting Welsh worker committed a sexual assault on a teenage girl in a dark alleyway.At around sunset on December 2, 2019, Benjamin Metcalfe was at a Milford Haven petrol station in his work van, preparing to refuel when he observed a 16-year-old girl walking past.
He pursued her for hundreds of yards after she left the garage forecourt, following her into a shadowy alley.
There, he assaulted her by roughly pushing her into a fence and grabbing her buttocks with force enough to leave bruising, amounting to sexual assault.
The 26-year-old, from Whitby Road in Harworth, Nottinghamshire, faced a sentencing hearing at Swansea Crown Court after being convicted by a jury.
During the hearing, Judge Paul Thomas stated: "That girl was alone in a secluded alley with an aggressive male assaulting her.
She was rightly terrified; anyone would be.
She cried out loudly during the attack, and luckily, a dog walker nearby heard her." He added, "From the evidence, it is clear that her screams and the presence of a witness caused you to abort the assault and return to your van, which was still parked at the garage forecourt.
You then left Milford and drove back to your home in the Midlands to avoid the consequences." "If she had not screamed and no one had been around, it’s unknown what further harm you might have caused.
She was vulnerable, exposed in a dark, isolated area, at your mercy." Judge Thomas noted the case as particularly disturbing, emphasizing the serious effect on the young girl’s mental health.
Benjamin Metcalfe received an 18-month prison sentence.
