Sex assault on man who had tried to help

A HOMELESS man repaid kindness shown to him by a pair of Derbyshire pensioners by sexually assaulting one of them.

Paul Wells was high on Mamba and drunk when he assaulted his male victim in an attempt to show that a previous conviction for sexual assault was unjust.

Gregor Purcell, prosecuting, told Derby Crown Court that Wells, 38, had been sleeping rough near the couple’s home in Bolsover from November 2021. They had shown him kindness by giving him a hot drink and money to buy food.

Unknown to the couple, Wells, of no fixed abode, went to prison in December 2021 after being given an 18-week sentence for outraging public decency. When he was released on February 2 this year he went back to the couple’s home, asking to use the toilet and ended up on the sofa drinking cider.

Mr Purcell said: “He began recounting his experiences in prison. He was unhappy with the way he had been treated, because of a sexual assault conviction in 2011.

“He then told [the victim] that he would show him what he did, took hold of his hips and thrust his groin into the bottom area. He held that for about five seconds.”

Wells pleaded guilty to sexual assault. He has 65 previous convictions for 99 offences.

Lucy Jones, defending, said her client had been able to get clean from Mamba while in prison.

Recorder Stuart Sprawson sentenced Wells to a year in jail, of which he will spend half on licence. He must sign on to the sex offender register for 10 years and was given a three-year restraining order, barring him from contacting the victims.