A courageous teenager has today spoken out after a shopkeeper launched a shocking sexual assault as she tried to buy a soft drink.
Lucy Debrick was 19 when she went to a convenience store on Boxing Day looking to buy a can of coke.
Dildar Singh Atwal, known locally as Bob, started chatting to Lucy - a former employee and the daughter of one of his workers and asked her about her plans for the day.
Then, knowing her parents were out of the area visiting family, he placed his arms tightly around her and began ‘grinding’ his crotch against her.
Atwal, 42, from Teesside, was handed a two year community order, told to pay £750 compensation and made to sign the sex offenders register for five years for the assault in Brandon Convenience Store in Brandon, County Durham.
But for Lucy, who was driven to self-harm and has not attended college since the attack, it is not enough.
The now 20-year-old, who has waived her right to anonymity, said: “This is not really good enough, for what I’ve had to go through and the effect it has had on me.
“I said in my statement I wanted him to go to prison and I stand by that, it’s not just about me - it’s about other girls.
“What if he does it again.”
John Garside, prosecuting at the hearing in Consett Magistrates’ Court, read aloud from Lucy’s victim impact statement.
He said: “He started thrusting his groin into my bottom.
“I was terrified Bob was going to rape me.
“I managed to get closer to the shop door but Bob said ‘you don’t need to go home yet’, he tried to close the door and continued to grind on me.”
“I was nervous before this happened but this has made it worse, I had never self-harmed in my life until this.
“I’d like Bob to go to prison for what he’s done, Bob shouldn’t be allowed to work where he has access to young girls - I think he’s a danger to the public.”
Graham Brown, defending, said Atwal had been going through personal problems including the death of his father and said he had been separated from his wife for around three years at the time of the incident.
He added: “He is a man of previous good character.
“It was a moment of madness.
“This incident could have been potentially much more serious.”
Mr Brown said the case could have been worse if there was a breach of trust.
However, magistrates argued that there had been a breach of trust as not only had Lucy worked for Atwal but so had her mother.
Lucy, from Brandon, County Durham, said her mother has lost her job following the attack and she is still recovering from the psychological impact.
She decided to speak out to encourage other victims of sexual assaults to come forward and waived her lifelong right to anonymity as a victim of a sexual offence to do so.
She added: “At first I was scared to tell the police but I knew I had to do it.
“If someone is scared, don’t be.
“You will worry but do it the police have been brilliant with me.
“When the police came out on the day they made sure I was totally comfortable.”
Now, preparing to return to college Lucy added: “I won’t let this beat me - hopefully in the future other girls are going to be safer.”
John Smith, presiding magistrate, passing sentence said: “We do feel this is a breach of trust.
“I will be perfectly honest, we looked very closely at sending you to crown court or a custodial sentence because of the circumstances.”
Atwal, of Delamere, Wynyard, Billingham, Teesside, admitted sexual assault.
He was ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for five years, carry out a two year supervision order and to pay £750 compensation, £85 court costs and a £60 victim surcharge.
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