A young man asked a stranger for a kiss and when she refused he picked her up and carried her to the side of a pub smoking shelter, where he sexually assaulted her.

Michael McDonagh, 21, was jailed for 160 days yesterday after he admitted unlawful imprisonment and sexual assault.

McDonagh, of Riverside Caravan Park at Queensferry, was placed on the sex offenders register for seven years.

He was also made the subject of a Licensed Premises Exclusion Order which bans him from The Custom House pub at Connah’s Quay.

He had already been made the subject of a similar order in respect of an earlier physical assault at The Boathouse in the town.

The judge, Mr Recorder Timothy Petts, told Mold Crown Court the incident at The Custom House was “disgraceful conduct”.

He said McDonagh, affected by drink, started talking to a young woman outside the premises on March 22 and asked her for a kiss.

When she refused, he pinned her up against a wall, then lifted her up and carried her away.

There was a struggle and she got away but during that struggle he put his hand between her legs and groped her.

The judge said he had seen footage of part of the incident which had been captured on CCTV.

McDonagh’s behaviour had a clear impact upon her and had affected her significantly, he said.

Barrister Simon Mintz, prosecuting, said McDonagh struck up a conversation with the young woman, fell against her at one stage and asked her for a kiss.

She said no, she had a boyfriend and she did not even know him.

But he tried to kiss her, pinned her against a wall, and then lifted her up bodily.

She was between six inches and a foot off the ground and she was carried around the side of the smoking shelter where the sexual assault took place.

There was a brief struggle as she tried to get away and as she did so he put his hand between her legs.

“He groped her over her clothing. By this time she was terrified,” said Mr Mintz.

She could see he was exposing himself over his waistband but there was no suggestion of any contact.

The victim managed to escape and get back to the pub.

Arrested and interviewed, he produced a prepared statement in which he described it as “innocent flirtation”, but the prosecutor said he had now accepted his guilt.

The complainant had been very upset and distressed.

McDonagh was said to have no sexual convictions and his guilty plea on the day of the intended trial had prevented the victim from having to relive the ordeal.

He had already served six months – equivalent to a
12-month sentence – on remand awaiting trial, the court was told.