Shrewsbury attacker, 24, grabbed woman in street at night

Jordan David Ecclestone, 24, followed his victim through the town along Belle Vue Road, making comments about her into his phone as she repeatedly crossed the street to avoid him, a court heard.

Mr Mike Phillips, prosecuting, said the woman had been walking through the town at 10.20pm on August 14 last year listening to her iPod when she saw the man, who she did not know, staring at her.

She repeatedly crossed the road to avoid the defendant who kept crossing to follow her, at one point shouting at her to ask why she was doing that.

Mr Phillips said the victim became concerned and sped up, but Ecclestone, of Brougham Square in Belle Vue, Shrewsbury, began to catch up with her.

"She was scared, didn't know what to do. She stopped to let him go by," he said.

But Ecclestone had already stopped by the entrance to an alleyway and was making comments about "the woman in front of him" on his phone.

The victim started to walk away quickly from Ecclestone but he caught up with her and grabbed her by the hips, said Mr Phillips.

"She was terrified and screamed out," said Mr Phillips, who added that the victim lost her balance and fell to the ground, hitting her head, where she continued to scream "leave me alone". The woman managed to jump up, push Ecclestone away and ran up the street to flag down a taxi.

The woman reported the attack to police and later identified Ecclestone in a line up. He pleaded guilty to a charge of assault when he appeared at Telford Magistrates Court on March 20.

Magistrates at Telford yesterday heard a statement by the victim who said she had suffered from anxiety and sleepless nights since the attack.

She told the court she had lost her job and had had thoughts of ending her life and was frightened that she might meet her attacker again.

Ecclestone was ordered to give her £500 in compensation and told to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.

He was given a 12-month community order with 12 months of supervision and six sessions of an alcohol treatment requirement.

Magistrate Jane Basley said: "This was a particularly nasty incident and you could have ended up having a custodial sentence for this."

Mr Paul Nicolas, for Ecclestone, agreed that it had been "a very harrowing incident for the victim".

He said that his client needed help with alcohol and had been drinking that night after the death of two elderly friends.

Mr Nicholas said that Ecclestone had "addressed his life" since the incident and had cut down on the amount of alcohol he drinks.