Raymond Beckett 64

Description

A grandad was deemed too drunk to be sentenced after sexually assaulting a teenage girl on a train.

Raymond Beckett was so intoxicated that he fell over on the steps outside Liverpool Crown Court as he was due to learn his fate over the vile incident. He harassed the youngster as she made her way home from Liverpool city centre, touching her inappropriately before asking her: "Don't you like being touched?"

The same court heard yesterday that the 17-year-old victim had been waiting to board a train at Central Station with a friend at around 9pm when she noticed the convicted sex offender, who she said "made her feel uncomfortable" and "smelled very strongly of alcohol". Zahra Baqri, prosecuting, described how Beckett then walked behind the girls before approaching them.

The 64-year-old first spoke to the the teen's friend, who "began looking at her phone in an effort to discourage him from communicating with them". He reacted by asking the complainant: "What is wrong with her?"

Beckett, of Sharples Crescent in Crosby, went on to touch her right arm with his hand and added "be careful" while "looking directly at her breasts". She then zipped up her coat after being "made more uncomfortable" by his actions.

At this stage, a Merseyrail worker approached him and said: "So, are you back then?"

Security staff meanwhile "advised the young girls to go to the opposite end of the platform" and enter via a carriage towards the front of the train. But the defendant boarded the service and made his way into the same carriage and sat down next to them.

Beckett then touched her to the shoulder and rubbed her thigh. He went on to grab her hand "tightly" and kiss it, only letting go when she began to have a panic attack.

But her friend told her that her dad would be picking them up from Sandhills Station in a "rouse intended to get the defendant to move away from them". Beckett continued to touch the girl's shoulder however, and she told him: "Don't touch me, I don't like people touching me."

He replied "don't you like being touched?" before his "mood changed" and he began repeating: "I don't want to speak to you. F*** off."

Beckett also called the victim's friend a "p***k" and "tried to block them from the doors" when they got up to leave the train. As they got off, he took the other girl's water bottle and "threw it all over her hands".

He was subsequently identified via CCTV footage and in an identity parade. Under interview, Beckett "denied presence" and said he "didn't use the train that day", but "could not remember what he was doing".

The pervert added that he had spent six weeks in hospital shortly before the incident after suffering a brain injury which affected his memory. He conceded having had an "alcohol dependency", but said it "does not change his behaviour and merely makes him fall over".

Beckett's criminal record shows six previous convictions for six offences. This includes an entry for indecent assault of a female under 14 in 1996.

In a statement which was read out to the court on her behalf, the complainant said: "I had to throw away the clothes I wore that day. The thought of wearing them gave me shivers and reminded me of what happened.

"I get nightmares where I imagine him touching my thigh again. In these dreams, I can't escape and I wake up crying.

"When I go to Liverpool Central, I get a sinking feeling in my stomach when the train pulls up at the station. I feel constantly on edge and look around constantly."

Beckett was due to appear before the court for sentencing on Friday last week. However, he was seen lying down on the steps outside the court on Derby Square beforehand having apparently fallen over on his way into the building.

The defendant, wearing a black suit over a white shirt and black tie, then continued to stumble around as he was helped inside by a relative and security staff. The hearing could not ultimately proceed "due to the level of the defendant's intoxication", and Beckett was remanded into custody over the weekend.

Peter White, defending, told the court on Monday: "It appears that alcohol is the root of the problem here. Mr Beckett accepts that he has been a functioning alcoholic for a number of years.

"He has a bottle of brandy most days, on top of other alcohol. It would appear that, when he is not at that level of intoxication, he is able to avoid causing trouble.

"This gentleman describes his daily life as coming into the city centre, having a drink, watching the buskers and going home. Mr Beckett has had one other custodial sentence.

"It was almost 30 years ago. I think he has had one court appearance since for non-payment of a railway fare.

"He has been an alcoholic for a number of years, and he recognises that. The first 48 hours he has had sober in a long time has been this weekend."

Beckett admitted two counts of sexual assault. Wearing a grey prison issue tracksuit in the dock, he was jailed for nine months.

Sentencing, the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC said: "You plainly were significant affected by drink as you were most days, as you were addicted to alcohol. You approached her and her friend and began to pester them.

"In your drunken mind, this all seemed perfectly innocent - but she must have been terrified. She must have feared that she going to be the victim of a much more serious incident.

"You have a limited record of recently previous convictions. Your life is chaotic because of your problems and challenges with drink."

Beckett was also handed a five-year sexual harm prevention order. He will be required to sign the sex offenders' register for 10 years.