A woman who molested another woman on a train has escaped having to register as a sex offender.
26-year-old human resources professional Jodie Tucker will not have to go to a police station and sign the sex offenders’ register after receiving an unusual sentence term.
District Judge Joanna Dickens imposed an eleven-month community order – despite the probation service asking for the order to be for a period of twelve months or longer.
Most community orders are 12, 18 or 24 months in length but by reducing the term by one month, Tucker escaped gaining the title of registered sex offender, despite being a sex offender.
Swindon Magistrates’ Court this morning (23 May) heard how she touched the woman’s knee, before moving up her thigh and to her vagina – over the victim’s clothing.
Shocked and upset about Tucker’s behaviour, she told her to stop. But she continued regardless – placing her hand in the victim’s lap and touching her inner thighs for a second time.
As a result, the victim – who goes to university – says she has started suffering from a number of mental health issues, including stress-induced hair loss, mood swings, struggles to concentrate and nightmares where Tucker is standing over her and she feels like she’s trapped and can’t move.
Defence solicitor Mr Davis said his client, of Hathaway Road, Upper Stratton, Swindon, accepted she was on the train and had consumed a lot of alcohol – describing her as “very, very, very drunk”.
He said Tucker doesn’t have any recollection of her crime, but she has “never disputed the incident” and accepts the victim – who was helping her get home – was only “trying to do the decent thing”.
Read the full court story, including District Judge Dickens’ comments >
Tucker isn’t the first sex offender to get away with having to register as one. An accomplished solicitor who sexually assaulted two women at a Wiltshire pub didn’t have to either.
Thomas Cadman brazenly approached his victims and groped them last year, but magistrates imposed a nine-month community order – despite the probation service asking for a 12-month order.
This meant that instead of registering as a sex offender for five years, he avoided it altogether.
Read more about Cadman’s case >
