‘Dirty old man’ has his appeal rejected
A‘DIRTY old man’ from Widnes who groped a teenager and slapped her bottom has failed to persuade top judges to clear his name.
Philip John Bettle, of Baguley Avenue, got a suspended four-month jail term at Chester Crown Court on October 19, 2016.
The 52-year-old admitted sexual assault at an earlier hearing on July 22, 2016, Judge Philip Katz QC told London’s Appeal Court on November 7.
But Bettle argued he was ‘not of sound mind’ when he pleaded guilty and his conviction should be overturned.
In 2015, the teenage victim was walking in Widnes when she saw Bettle, who spoke to her and followed her.
The teenager had seen him before but did not know him, said the appeal judge.
He put his arm across her shoulder and touched the upper part of her arm, making her feel uncomfortable.
Bettle told her ‘ You have got nice lips, they look nice, you have nice kissable lips’.
He then asked ‘are you ticklish?’ and used a finger to jab at her ribs, before slapping her hard on her right buttock.
The victim was left ● feeling ‘upset’ and ‘anxious’ about what happened to her, the court heard.
The judge who sentenced Bettle pointed to the age difference and said he had ‘ behaved like a dirty old man’.
While Bettle was ‘not of previous good character’, he had no previous convictions for sex crimes, the court was told.
Despite having pleaded guilty, Bettle argued that his conviction was ‘unsafe’.
He said he had just lost his sister and was awaiting a ‘life-threatening operation’ when he admitted the crime.
He was ‘ not of sound mind’ and ‘did not understand what was going on’, he argued.
But Judge Katz said: “We have seen nothing to suggest that his plea was anything other than entirely voluntary and unequivocal.”
There was ‘no substance’ to any of Bettle’s complaints, added the appeal judge, who was sitting with two others.
Bettle also argued that his suspended jail term was too tough.
But the judge said: “The sentence passed was unimpeachable.”
Judge Katz described Bettle’s appeal as ‘hopeless’.