June 2008 Man who fled after sexually assaulting girl walks free A man who went on the run from police after sexually assaulting a teenage girl has been spared jail. Alan Palin, from Surbiton, groped the 13-year-old at his former home in Silksworth, Sunderland, in May last year. Newcastle Crown Court heard that before the 54-year-old could be arrested and interviewed by police he fled the area. Palin was arrested two months later after police tracked him down to an address in Newell Road, Surbiton. He admitted sexual assault on the day he was due for trial earlier this year. The court heard his time on the run had a devastating effect on his young victim. Prosecutor Amanda Rippon told the court: “When police had difficulty in tracking the defendant down she was living on her nerves. “When he was arrested she had been upset, angry and had mood swings which varied from day to day. “In partiuclar in two weeks leeding up to the trial she needed constant reassurance she was believed. “She will have been extremely relieved not to have had to come and give evidence in court.” Judge Beatrice Bolton said she hoped the youngster would now be able to put her ordeal behind her. Judge Bolton sentenced Palin to a community order for three years with sex offender group work. She made him the subject of a sexual offences prevention order banning him from having contact with the under 16s for five years and said he must register as a sex offender for five years. The judge told him: “You were so cowardly you ran away.” Judge Bolton said while the public may expect a prison sentence in cases such as this, she felt her “hands were tied” by the sentencing provisions. The judge said if she imposed a short custodial sentence Palin would then be released without any supervision, which she felt was crucial. The judge said: “He escapes the punishment element the public would ordinarily expect, my hands are completely tied. “There are no provisions for supervision after a short custodial sentence.”