Craig Dixon 35

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Craig Dixon, 35, Jailed for Sexual Assault on Teenage Girl

A former Maryport man has been jailed for two years after sexually assaulting a schoolgirl in her early teens.

Craig Dixon, recently living in Stafford and formerly of Fleming Square, Maryport, committed three counts of non-penetrative sexual activity with the victim on a single occasion. He initially denied the offences and lied to police, Carlisle Crown Court heard. He later requested a second interview and admitted what he had done.

Dixon was arrested after the girl told her mother. She later told police she froze in shock as he groped her.

Defence barrister Niamh Leong said Dixon had expressed remorse and recognised the emotional harm caused. “He made full admissions in his second interview,” she told the court. She said he had sought talking therapy, hoped to return to warehouse work, and had no relevant previous convictions. “Immediate custody would disrupt the progress he has made,” she added, arguing he could be rehabilitated.

Judge Michael Fanning noted Dixon had previously been investigated for other alleged sexual offences, though none led to prosecution. He accepted that Dixon had taken responsibility by requesting the second interview, but said the defendant clearly gained sexual gratification from the assault. “You must have done; why else would you do it?” the judge said.

Referring to the “whiff” of suspicion from the earlier allegations, Judge Fanning said he could not understand how a grown man could be sexually attracted to a child. “You represent a real risk and I am of the view that the only punishment is immediate custody.”

Dixon was sentenced to two years in prison. He must remain on the Sex Offender Register for 10 years and is subject to a sexual harm prevention order for the same period. The order is designed to prevent him having unsupervised access to any female child except where it is inadvertent or unavoidable in daily life.