Man jailed for sexual assault on girl at Christmas party

The man was jailed at Bishop Street courthouse in Derry on Friday

A man has been jailed for four months for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl at a Christmas party in what a judge described as "outright human betrayal".

Human Bhargava, 44, of Birch Hill in Londonderry, admitted three sexual offences from December 2022 when he appeared at Bishop Street courthouse in the city on Friday.

Bhargava and the injured party, who was 16 at the time, had been talking earlier in the night and she said he had placed his hands on her chest.

Later, on the dancefloor, he grabbed her from behind and again touched her inappropriately.

The girl later told a male friend what had happened, describing it as "weird".

The court was told that Bhargava followed her outside and put his hand under her top, later approaching her again as she waited for a taxi and asking her to dance.

Defence barrister Stephen Mooney said there were two categories of offenders: "people who are bad" and "good people who have done something very bad", describing this incident as the latter.

He said Bhargava had no record and had "never been in trouble in his life", but had developed a drinking pattern that had led to the offences.

He described him as "remorseful" and said his memory of the incident was "non-existent".

District Judge Barney McElhom said that Bhargava had only pleaded guilty on the morning of the contest.

He said the injured party would, therefore, until now have believed that she would have to give evidence in court, with all the stress that that brought with it.

He described the victim impact statement as a "very disturbing document" and said that the maximum sentence of six months was "wholly inadequate".

Bhargava was sentenced to four months in custody with seven years on the sex offenders' register and ordered to pay the injured party £1,000 in compensation.