Nine months jail for indecent assault

Press, 28 February 1986, Page 7

Nine months jail for indecent assault

A man found guilty by a jury on charges of indecently assaulting, and assaulting, a deaf-mute man, aged 20, was jailed for nine months by Judge Pain in the District Court yesterday. While accepting that no severe harm had been done to the complainant, the Judge told Hector Francis Gavin Johnstone, aged 34, that the offending represented a “disgusting episode.”

It must have been terrifying for the complainant who was a total stranger, and an unwilling participant, said the Judge.

It was a matter of concern, he said, that Johnstone had a propensity for offending of this nature. The crimes must be regarded as serious and as such warranted a custodial sentence, he said. Mr Brian McClelland Q.C., for the. defendant submitted that of their kind, the offences, while unpleasant, were not particularly severe. The indecency he said, was not of a gross nature. Although found guilty by a. jury, Johnstone still maintained his denial of the offences. At the trial, evidence was given that after visiting a friend in Linwood the complainant went to a bus stop to return to Cathedral Square. The defendant offered to drive the complainant to the Square as the time was

11.30 p.m. Instead, the defendant drove to an Isolated part of the Port Hills where the offences occurred. The complainant’s evidence was given at the hearing through an interpreter of hand signs and lip-reading.