Nottingham sex offender handed suspended sentence for assaulting young girls

NOTTINGHAM SEX OFFENDER HANDED SUSPENDED SENTENCE FOR ASSAULTING YOUNG GIRLS

A drunken sex offender has been sentenced after sexually assaulting two 11-year-old girls in Ilkeston in 2021.

Paul Mitchell, aged 57, of Sherwood Road, Sutton-in-Ashfield, was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault of a girl aged 13 or under.

In court, he sobbed in the dock as he was handed a 23-week jail sentence, suspended for two years.

Judge William Harbage KC described the offences as disgraceful and appalling, emphasizing that being drunk is no excuse.

The judge said: "These were disgraceful and appalling offences which were committed when you were very drunk.

You say you do not remember committing them but being drunk is no excuse at all for this kind of behaviour." He detailed that the offences occurred while the girls stayed at an address where Mitchell, intoxicated after consuming excessive cider and ale, touched one girl's breast and assaulted the other girl in multiple ways.

The victims, now young teenagers, described the lasting trauma caused, with one noting she wakes up crying and feels her life was ruined, while the other expressed feeling upset and disgusted with her reflection.

Prosecutor Dawn Pritchard stated that Mitchell's actions left the girls very distressed, and he claimed in police interviews that he could not recall what happened.

Mitchell, who has a criminal record dating back twenty years for disorderly conduct, drink-driving, and being drunk and disorderly, had admitted the charges.

His mitigation argued he disclosed his actions to his employer, leading to his resignation, and emphasized his awareness of the severity of his behaviour and impact on his family.

The court also ordered him to attend 34 rehabilitation sessions, complete 150 hours of unpaid work, and imposed a seven-year sexual harm prevention order along with a seven-year registration on the sex offender register.