Leeds dad jailed for sexually assaulting his son's girlfriend while she was asleep in bed

The former solider, who is in his fifties, crept into the room where she slept, got into bed beside her and groped her.

The defendant was jailed for 16 months after pleading guilty to sexual assault.

The incident happened when the defendant was staying overnight in his son's home in Leeds just before Christmas 2018.

Prosecutor Chloe Hudson said the defendant, his son and his son's partner went out for dinner together before returning to the house.

They continued drinking and the defendant drank a full bottle of whisky.

At some stage the defendant was alone with the young woman in the living room when he became upset.

The woman gave him a hug.

The defendant then told her he was sexually attracted to her and wanted to kiss her.

His son came into the room and told his father to go to bed as he had heard what he had said.

The couple went to sleep in the defendant's son's bedroom, with the woman sleeping in the bed and his son sleeping on the floor because he was drunk.

The defendant went to a spare bedroom opposite his son's bedroom.

The woman awoke to find the defendant in bed next to her, wearing only a T-shirt and groping her.

She pushed him off and woke her boyfriend up to tell him what had happened.

They found the defendant's trousers and boxer shorts in the living room.

At 4am, the defendant returned to his son's bedroom and his son again told him to get out.

The next morning he asked what he had done wrong and he was told that he had 'tried it on' with the woman.

The defendant went home and sent an apologetic text to his son.

The incident was reported to the police.

The defendant said he was shocked by the allegation and said he did know why the couple would make up such a thing about him.

In a statement, the victim said she no longer feels safe in her home own, particularly in bed, and working alone with males.

The defendant has a previous conviction for sexually assaulting a female student when he was drunk and alone in a house with her.

Derek Duffy, mitigating, said his client has a mental health problem linked to his experiences in the army and struggled to control his drinking.

He said: "This is a man who has genuine health problems arising from the serving of his country."

The defendant was told he must go on the sex offender register for 10 years.

Judge Geoffrey Marson QC said: "In one view, this is a desperately sad case, but on the other this was a wholly unjustified, gross invasion of [the victim], who was entitled to feel safe laying in a bed in your son's house."