Derby: Man guilty of sexually assaulting girl at Primark store

The 16-year-old girl was assaulted at the Corn Market Primark store in Derby

A man has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl in a Primark store.

Jaspal Garcha approached the teenager and groped her while she was shopping in the store in Corn Market, Derby, on 9 January.

The 50-year-old denied sexual assault but was convicted on Friday after a trial before magistrates in Derby.

Giving evidence, the victim told the court Garcha's actions had made her feel "awful".

She said she was shopping with her mother when the defendant walked up to her and made a sexual comment about an emblem on the jumper she was wearing.

The teenager said she was feeling "really uncomfortable" about the remark when Garcha reached out and touched her for "a couple of seconds" on the breast before she pushed him away.

She later told her mother what had happened and reported the assault to store security.

She said: "I felt awful. It really upset me and my eyes filled with tears.

"As soon as we left Primark my emotions spiralled."

'Vague and evasive'

The court was shown CCTV of Garcha, walking with two crutches, approaching the girl and touching her while her mother was elsewhere in the shop.

The defendant, from Alvaston, Derby, told the court he had made a "foolish and flippant" comment about her top but said he had touched her on the shoulder in a non-sexual way.

When asked why, he said: "I could have been steadying myself. As you may have seen I am not the most mobile person."

Magistrates said Garcha had been "vague and evasive" while giving evidence and his explanation was "not credible".

The court was told Garcha was subject to a "sexual offences prevention order" at the time of the assault.

He will be sentenced at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court on 17 August.