Description A Littlehampton man who assaulted two women has been jailed after an incredible display of bravery by female police officers. On 2 September, 2023, police received a report of a woman having been sexually assaulted while walking alone through Littlehampton town centre at night. She was followed and grabbed by an unknown man, who sexually assaulted her, pushed her to the ground and fled the scene. CCTV footage showed the man loitering in the town centre for around an hour, before following her into a residential area. Despite a search of the area by police, he could not be located. The suspect was also captured on CCTV following other women around the town centre. Suspecting the man posed an ongoing risk to other women, police deployed plain clothes officers to try to catch him. Police officers, in plain clothes, were deployed to Littlehampton town centre. In the early hours of Sunday, 1 October, CCTV showed one of the officers – a woman in her 20s - being followed by a man who matched the description of the suspect. He tailed her for over 30 minutes through the town centre, along the seafront and into the residential Harsfold Road. Wearing a face covering, he chased after her, grabbed and assaulted her. He tried to flee the scene but officers nearby who were involved in the operation intercepted and arrested him. He was identified as 44-year-old Mark Stankus, of High Street in Littlehampton, and subsequently charged with sexual assault and causing actual bodily harm. Stankus pleaded guilty to all charges and, Porstmouth Crown Court on Friday, 19 April, he was jailed for eight years, given a restraining order and became a registered sex offender for life.