Sex attacker jailed after CCTV appeal
ASOLDIER who stalked a student through the streets before subjecting her to a horrifying sex attack was caught after his pals recognised him in grainy CCTV images released to the media.
Jack Kelly, 23, from Hazel Grove was on leave from the Army when he targeted a lone 19-yearold woman walking home through the Manchester’s university district at 5am.
He pounced on her from behind, clasping his hands around her mouth, slammed her head into the pavement five times, choked her and sexually assaulted her – before her screaming alerted witnesses.
A student ran to her aid after she heard her from her room in halls of residence. She described it as ‘the worst scream she had ever heard’.
A passing cyclist saw hooded, masked Kelly running from the scene and chased him through the city, but lost him, David Temkin, prosecuting, told a Manchester Crown Court sentencing hearing.
Kelly took off his distinctive red hooded top in a bid to avoid detection, but police pieced together CCTV footage from across the city, and then released his image to the media as a suspect. Recognised by friends, Kelly handed himself in.
He denied the attack in two interviews, before finally telling officers he was responsible for the attack.
Kelly later admitted sexual assault and assault causing actual bodily harm following the attack on the morning of December 15, near Oxford Road.
Now Kelly, of Merton Avenue, has been jailed by a judge at Manchester Crown Court who said his ‘disturbing’ attitude towards women was evidence that he is a dangerous offender who posed a significant risk of causing serious harm to the public. His criminal history includes violence and harassment towards former girlfriends.
Kelly has been ordered to serve four-and-a-half years behind bars, and has been given a four-year extended licence, which means after release he will remain at risk of being recalled to jail until 2025.
Daniel Travers, defending, said Kelly felt ‘deep regret’, had a difficult childhood, had been bullied at school and in the Army and was working on his anger and relationship issues on prison courses.
Sending him down, Judge Hilary Manley said: “She struggled hard and she screamed and thankfully those screams were heard by people in nearby accommodation. They courageously, and with public spiritedness, came out and intervened.”