Student has flashbacks after assault

An international exchange student left the country suffering flashbacks after being indecently assaulted north of Wellington.

Paraparaumu resident Andrew Banner, 23, was given a three strikes warning for serious offending after admitting he grabbed the woman’s crotch near Paraparaumu train station one evening back in August.

Now back in her home country, the college student wrote a victim impact statement that Judge James Johnston read in Porirua District Court on November 17.

‘‘She was sad to say that she had this experience because up until that day, she had a really enjoyable stay in this area,’’ the judge said.

‘‘She went home where she felt safe and didn’t want to come back.’’

The attack had left her too scared to go out by herself.

Judge Johnston said Banner caught up with her from behind while she was walking near the train-station carpark.

He had been drinking alcohol and could not remember what happened next, but admitted it was his image caught on CCTV camera footage.

‘‘You tapped her on the shoulder and told her her hair was too long and needed a haircut.’’

He asked for her phone number, which she gave him because she was scared.

‘‘You reached with your left hand and put it on her crotch. She was startled. You then got on your bike and rode away.’’

The judge said alcohol had been a problem for Banner ‘‘for some time’’.

He was particularly upset after some young people he knew had been killed less than fortnight earlier when the car they were in hit a parked truck in Levin.

Banner’s defence lawyer said he had not taken alcohol since the attack, and had stopped seeing the people he was hanging around with at the time.

‘‘He said he felt guilty, and still feels guilty. He knows how upsetting it would have been for her and her family. ‘‘He wishes he could rewind time.’’ The judge ordered Banner to do three months of community detention along with 100 hours of community work.