Predator sexually assaulted woman in Leeds days after attempted-rape-sentence release
A dangerous sex predator who targets drunk women on nights out has been returned to prison and banned from the Call Lane area of the city.
Ronald Vickers sexually assaulted a victim just days after he was released from a lengthy prison sentence for attempted rape in the same area of the city centre.
He was given an extended sentence of more than six years at Leeds Crown Court this week, with probation reports suggesting he is a danger to women and had “no real concept of consent”.
The 42-year-old had tried to rape a woman in the Call Lane area years previously and received an eight-year sentence.
But just three days after his release, on January 18 last year he booked into a hotel in Leeds and was again seen “lurking” around the same popular nightspots.
One reveller was so concerned by Vickers’ behaviour he approached police and said he had seen him in The Backroom club acting in a “predatory manner”.
Vickers was then seen loitering outside The New Penny pub, waiting for drunken women to leave the premises.
One woman who was struggling to stand had been refused entry to the pub.
She was then approached by Vickers who put his hands on her waist and bottom and tried to kiss her.
Security then stepped in. Prosecutor Leila Taleb said the woman had been separated from friends, was slurring and “unable to consent”.
Arrested, Vickers refused to answer police questions.
He denied two counts of sexual assault, but was found guilty after a trial at Leeds Magistrates’ Court.
Vickers, of Lower Oxford Street, Castleford, has 14 previous convictions for 31 offences.
Mitigating, Glenn Parsons said while the incident out The New Penny was “unpleasant”, it was not the most serious sexual assault.
He said that Vickers now had his own flat and if he were to be jailed, he “would be back to square one”.
But Judge Clark was concerned by the probation report which suggested Vickers had “little acceptance or awareness” about his behaviour and remained a danger to women who in drink.
The judge said he was convinced he targeted the victim because of her alcohol-induced vulnerability.
He jailed Vickers for 18 months, but gave him a five-year extended licence period.
He was also handed a six-and-a-half-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) banning him from the Call Lane area of Leeds city centre on an evening.