Predator who punched and sexually assaulted student sent back to jail

A YOUNG woman student was followed home, punched in the face and sexually assaulted by a predatory sex offender.

Plymouth Crown Court heard how the attacker tracked the 18-year-old student from a bar in Union Street back to her home in the North Hill area.

He watched her unlock her door before punching her in the face and sexually abusing her.

Alexander Wilson, aged 24, pictured right, was described by his own defence barrister as a "young man whose brain just isn't quite right" and by the judge as a "very concerning young man".

The registered sex offender has been sent back to jail after admitting sexually assaulting the 18-year-old student – just a year after being released from prison for a similar attack.

Wilson had been staying in a Plymouth hostel after being released from prison on October 28, 2011 for a similar attack.

On the evening of October 18 last year Wilson went into Plymouth city centre with another sex offender.

At 12.30am the next morning he called a female friend and told her he was upset because no girls were interested in him.

He then told her he had struck a female and put his hand up her skirt, the court heard.

The following morning Wilson told another friend how he had followed the young woman from the Union Rooms bar, on Union Street, up to the "student area" of the city, watched her unlock her front door in North Hill and then pushed up against her, punched her in the face, put his hand up her skirt and grabbed her breasts before running off.

The police were subsequently informed and later identified the female victim who told them her mouth was so swollen after being punched in the face that she couldn't open it the following morning.

In a police interview, Wilson said he had no intention of raping the woman, although he could understand that his victim may have thought he was going to.

Nick Lewin, representing Wilson, said his client knew himself that he was dangerous and did not want to carry on like this.

Wilson had previously been jailed in 2010 for four years after assaulting a woman in a similar fashion in Exeter.

Judge Erik Salomonsen said: "You are and were on October 19 2012 a registered sex offender who had been released from custody on licence to an extended sentence.

"You were being supervised on license in the community and there were ongoing concerns in terms of your risk but there were significant protective measures in place.

"On the night of the offence you went to a nightclub and noted your victim. You said she was the type of female you had fantasised about. You followed her for some 30 minutes to her home address.

"The pre-sentencing report from last December says that you pose a very high risk of sexual offending and that you pose a high, possibly very high, risk to the public, in particular young women.

"The report talks of your predatory behaviour and says you remain a very concerning young man."

Judge Salomonsen sentenced Wilson to four years in prison, and said he would not be eligible for release for at least 32 months.

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