Jail after ‘ambush’ on woman
AN ATTACKER who was tracked down and detained by a police dog after he “ambushed” a lone woman as she walked home in the early hours has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.
The dog Max was used to find David Watson, 53, after his Ford Fusion car was found parked near to the scene of the attack which took place in the Rochdale Road area of Todmorden in January.
Watson, of Bankside Lane, Bacup, had been driving in the area when he spotted the woman walking along the road with her headphones in listening to music. Bradford Crown Court heard how Watson parked up ahead of his victim and then hid in bushes before attacking the unsuspecting woman from behind as she walked by.
Recorder Margia Mostafa said Watson put his hand over the woman’s mouth in an bid to silence her screams and forced her to the ground.
The woman managed to break free and pulled Watson’s glasses off before her cries for help alerted nearby residents.
Watson left in the car as people came to help the victim, but the court heard that he later returned to the scene because he couldn’t drive without his glasses. After failing to find his glasses Watson realised the police were attending and tried to hide, but his beanie-type hat and hoody were found in the parked car and a dog-handler and Max soon located him among a pile of wooden pallets.
Watson denied the attack and claimed in interview that he had been “flirting” with the woman and trying to chat her up, but last month a jury found him guilty of false imprisonment and committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence.
Watson wrote a letter following his conviction in which he accepted responsibility and expressed his regret for the crime.
Recorder Mostafa said the complainant had given evidence at the trial with great courage and there was no doubt that the attack had affected her greatly.
“She was vulnerable because it was at night. She was ambushed. She was forced to the floor.
“There was thereafter an attack and a struggle.,” said Recorder Mostafa.
In addition to the jail sentence the judge also ordered Watson to sign on the sex offender register for life and made an indefinite restraining order which bans him from having any contact with the complainant.
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