FESTIVAL GIRL’S SEX ATTACK ORDEAL

A TEENAGE girl was subjected to a prolonged sexual assault in a tent at a music festival in Derbyshire.

Daniel Buck’s 17-year-old victim told him not to touch her “15 to 20 times” during the attack, a court heard.

Derby Crown Court heard how Buck struck at the Y-not Festival, near Matlock, three years ago. Undeterred by her pleas for him to stop he touched her private parts during the assault which she later told police lasted “between 20 and 30 minutes”.

The girl did not initially make a complaint but discovered that what Buck had subjected her to was “gossip on social media” and she was branded “a liar” online and at the Derbyshire school where she was a student.

Now Buck, a 20-year-old university student, has been handed a suspended prison term after “taking full responsibility” for what he did to the girl. Jailing him for 10 months, suspended for two years, Judge Nirmal Shant QC said: “The act was persistent, she told you not to but you carried on.

“You are old enough to realise that ‘no’ means ‘no.’

“What you did to the complainant was not just in itself upsetting but made her the subject of rumours and innuendo. It seems that the incident sparked off a storm of whispering and murmuring that she is still suffering.”

Ian Way, prosecuting, said the offence took place at the Y Not Festival in Pikehall on July 29, 2015. He said the victim had gone with some of her friends, while Buck had gone with a group of his.

At some stage the girl was kicked out of her tent, came across Buck’s group and was offered the opportunity to sleep in his tent, which he was sharing with a male friend.

Mr Way said: “The defendant opened his sleeping bag and closed it over him and the victim. He reached over and pulled at the poppers on her onesie and put his right side inside her shorts and underwear and started to touch her between her legs.

“She told police that 15 to 20 times she pushed him away but he would not take no for an answer. She said this carried on for 20 to 30 minutes and then stopped. She then left the tent.” Mr Way said when she got home she told her mother what had happened and was later persuaded to report it to the police when she discovered rumours were circulating on social media what had happened to her.

He said people didn’t believe it and started calling her “a liar”. In an impact statement the victim, whose identity is protected by law, said: “I lost a lot of confidence for a long time as I was being called a liar by a lot of people.”

Buck, of Taylor Crescent, Chesterfield, was arrested, questioned and later pleaded guilty to sexual assault.

Steve Gosnall, mitigating, said his client was a student at the University of Southampton. “He fully accepts his wrongdoing and was only just 17 at the time. He is bitterly sorry for what he has done.”

15 to 20 times she pushed him away but he would not take no for an answer. Ian Way, prosecuting