Newtownabbey: man jailed for grabbing stranger’s bum in Tesco store while she was at a self-service checkout
A man who sexually assaulted a stranger inside a supermarket has been jailed for four months.
Adam Smyth subjected the woman to an “invasive grope” at Tesco on Church Road, Newtownabbey.
The 34-year-old defendant initially claimed any contact was accidental and then said it had been a case of mistaken identity.
Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard he targeted the victim while she was at self-service checkouts buying food for a family Sunday dinner in October 2022.
Prosecution counsel Mark O’Connor said the woman felt someone grab her bum as she completed the transaction.
"She was terrified by this and turned around to find the defendant behind her,” Mr O’Connor submitted. “He admitted touching her and alleged that he had slipped.”
Later, during police interviews, Smyth claimed to have mistakenly thought the woman was a friend.
Smyth, of Lisnalinchy Road West, Ballyclare, eventually pleaded guilty to sexual assault on the day of trial.
Defence barrister Sean Mullan accepted it was a “thoroughly unpleasant” incident which he argued only lasted for a matter of seconds.
He said his client, a former spray painter, had been drinking heavily and has no previous record for similar offences.
District Judge Anne Marshall rejected suggestions Smyth should be put on probation.
She told him: “You were completely unknown to her and sexually assaulted her, not just a simple touch but an invasive grope.”
In her victim impact statement, the woman described feeling ashamed over what happened.
"It was not her fault, she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Judge Marshall stressed, jailing the defendant for four months.
Smyth was released on bail pending appeal against the sentence.