Derby: Man sentenced for sex assault on girl at Primark

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

A man who sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl in a Primark store in Derby has been handed a two-year community order.

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

The 50-year-old was convicted of sexual assault and sentenced on Thursday.

Garcha was also added to the sex offenders register for five years and ordered to wear an electronic tag for six months.

The victim told Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court 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, of Branksome Avenue, 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.

In addition to his community order, he was ordered to pay compensation and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order for five years.