Bar worker groped by drunken Wakefield man tells court: 'He's no right to do this'
A bar worker who was groped by a drunken man has spoken of her disgust as he was sentenced at court.
Daniel Royston admitted a charge of sexual assault at the venue after trying to grab the woman’s breasts. He later tried to kiss her. The bar cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim.
In a victim impact statement, read to Leeds Crown Court by prosecutor Leila Taleb, the worker said: “I should be able to go to work to do my job without being inappropriately touched.
“He should be ashamed of his actions. I felt degraded. He felt he could do what he wanted.
“I do no think this is okay. Why does he think he has the right to do this?”
The court heard that Royston entered the venue with two friends at around 10.30pm on December 1 last year.
He later approached the bar and ordered two cocktails from the victim, but he leaned over and touched her chest. She quickly challenged him and angrily responded by saying she would strike him with a bottle if he did it again.
He “dismissed” this and offered to buy her a drink, which she refused.
At around 1am, while on her break, he approached her again and put his arm over her shoulder and move in to kiss her. She pushed him away and warned him again.
An argument started in which he became verbally abusive, insulting her, which left her “angry and upset”, Miss Taleb added.
He was interviewed by police on December 18 and shown the CCTV footage from the bar that night. He was shocked and could not remember the assault due to the amount of alcohol consumed.
The court was told that the 33-year-old, of Moorcroft, Ossett, had no previous convictions.
Mitigating, Susannah Proctor said Royston, who works in traffic management, had never even been arrested before. She added: “He has absolutely no recollection of his offending.
“He was shown the way he behaved and he continues to be remorseful and deeply, deeply ashamed. I submit it was completely out of character for him.
“The effect it has had on this defendant is palpable.”
The judge, Recorder Catherine Silverton, told Royston that his actions were “clearly upsetting and distressing” and called the incident “unpleasant”.
She gave him a 50-week community order, alongside 15 rehabilitation days with probation.
He was not put on the sex offender register, but was ordered to pay £2,500 compensation to the victim.