March 201 Alcester former Royal Marine jailed for sexual assault A FORMER Royal Marine from Alcester who sexually assaulted two teenage girls has been jailed for his ‘dreadful’ offences. Neil Potter, 55, of Hertford Road, Alcester, pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to three charges of sexual activity with a child. He was jailed for 15 months, ordered to register as a sex offender for ten years and made subject to a sexual offences prevention order banning him from working with children and limiting his contact with children indefinitely. Prosecutor Tim Green said the first incident took place on an occasion when there were a number of guests at Potter’s home. When he was alone in a room with a 13-year-old girl he put his hand inside her pants as she was lying on a sofa. The girl did not say anything at the time, but the offences came to light after a 15-year-old girl complained in the summer of last year that Potter had touched her breasts over her top. The police were contacted, and it later emerged that Potter kept a journal in which he had written about feelings of loneliness and thoughts of wanting to sleep with the younger girl lying naked next to him. When he was arrested Potter denied touching the older girl’s breasts and also made denials when he was questioned a month later about his younger victim, said Mr Green. Sean Logan, defending, said Potter had ‘served his country’ as a Royal Marine for six years, but conceded: “There’s not an awful lot of mitigation that can be put forward by Mr Potter, apart from his guilty pleas.” Urging the judge to pass a suspended sentence, he argued: “If he goes to jail immediately, there’s no offending work which will be done with him. If he receives a suspended sentence there’s a greater element of work and supervision.” But jailing Potter, Judge Trevor Faber told him: “You know perfectly well these offences are dreadful. A custodial sentence is inevitable.”