Hartlepool man who groped teenage girl on bus was found asleep in bus stop by Cleveland Police
A Hartlepool man will be sentenced next month after he admitted groping a teenage girl on a bus.
Takudzwa Dokotera, aged 26, pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual assault when he appeared before Teesside Magistrates’ Court on Monday, November 4.
The court heard how he inappropriately touched a stranger after sitting next to her on a bus outside of town earlier this year.
Carolyn Craggs, prosecuting, described how the victim immediately felt uncomfortable when Dokotera sat next to her despite there being plenty of spaces on the bus.
Ms Craggs said: “He placed his hand on her thigh and started to stroke her leg. She panicked and didn’t know what to do.”
Dokotera, of Hamilton Road, Hartlepool, may also have taken a picture of the victim on his phone, added the prosecutor.
Ms Craggs added: “She tried to move away but says he tried to hold her hand.”
As she got up to leave she felt a hand stroke her lower back.
A woman went to the victim’s aid when Dokotera followed the girl off the bus and she asked him to leave her alone.
David Deadman, mitigating, said Dokotera, a supply worker, had no memory of the assault due to being heavily intoxicated.
He was found asleep by police in a bus stop.
The court heard he had nothing similar on his criminal record.
Magistrates adjourned passing sentence until a report is prepared by the probation service.
Dokotera was granted unconditional bail to return to the court on December 2 when he will learn his fate.