Assault man convicted (From Gazette Series)

Assault man convicted

A SLIMBRIDGE man was remanded in custody to await sentence on Wednesday after a jury convicted him of indecently assaulting an eight-year-old girl in a shop.

Mark Niblett, 42, of Church End, had denied the girl's allegation that he squeezed her bottom in the Co-op, in Cam.

But after a three-day trial the jury found him guilty and he was remanded in custody until June 30 for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.

It was Niblett's second conviction for such an offence in two years.

In June 2002 he was found guilty of behaving indecently in front of a young girl in the Matalan store, in Quedgeley, Gloucester.

During this week's trial the jury heard that Niblett was leaving the Co-op in Cam on February 14 as the girl and her mother were arriving. He then put his shopping in his car and followed them back into the shop.

The woman was selecting a bottle of wine, with her daughter out of immediate view, when Niblett "put his hand on her bottom and squeezed it," alleged Robert Duvall, prosecuting.

The mother told the jury that she had become suspicious of Niblett spending too much time in the aisle with them, so she asked her daughter if anything had happened. Her daughter replied: "That man touched my bottom."

After discussing the matter with her husband she reported the incident to the police who went to the store and retrieved CCTV footage of the incident that day. The girl was interviewed at her home and Niblett was arrested.

Niblett admitted to police that he was featured in the video but denied any wrongdoing.

The jury saw a five-minute extract of 24-hours of CCTV footage. A tape of the police interview carried out at the girl's home was also shown.

Niblett told the police: "If I did make contact with her it was pure accident. I did not reach down and squeeze her bottom."

He said he was a shopaholic well-known among his friends for wandering around stores and checking prices.

Defence witness, Rita Rock, landlady of the Tudor Arms, in Slimbridge, said in evidence that Mr Niblett's knowledge of prices in the Co-op was notorious in the pub.

"He just knows everything about the shop and the special offers," she said. Nigel Evans, also from Slimbridge, said he gave up shopping with Mr Niblett eight years ago because he found the time he took to browse the items was a nightmare.

In his closing statement David Maunder, defending, said: "Just because this man is single, lives with a lodger and spends a lot of time in supermarkets it doesn't mean he is a pervert."

The jury retired to consider its verdict on Tuesday and did not return until Wednesday after being told that a majority decision could be accepted. Before finally giving the guilty verdict they re-viewed the videotape of the girl's evidence.

Judge Tabor told Niblett he would be held in custody until sentence on June 30.