Man molested girl of nine in her bed

Daniel Holmes pretended he was going to the toilet, which was downstairs, but instead went upstairs to the room which the nine-year-old shared with her sister.

Malcolm Taylor, prosecuting. told Leeds Crown Court yesterday that Holmes pulled the duvet back and touched her over her pyjamas near her private parts.

Fortunately she woke up and "with commendable presence of mind not only told him to get out but also began screaming for help to her father downstairs".

He rushed upstairs as Holmes fled the property.

The 23-year-old, of North Farm Road, in Gipton, was jailed for 18 months and ordered to register as a sex offender.

Sentencing him, Judge Sally Cahill QC said it was a deeply worrying case and because of its aggravating features she was imposing more than the sentencing guidelines suggested because it was not possible to impose an extended sentence.

She said it must have been a terrifying experience for the girl to wake up and find him in her room. "It does not bear thinking about had she not done so."

A psychiatric report indicated Holmes suffered from no mental illness and he had not been convicted of anything similar before, but it also indicated he lived at times in a world of fantasy.

Mr Taylor said Holmes had previously befriended the family and helped with the children when they went to a fair.

On the night of the offence, the girl's mother had gone out while her father remained at home babysitting.

Jayne Dodson, defending, said the offence was "fleeting" and committed in drink.

"He realises that for a nine-year-old this was an extremely unpleasant event, to be in your own bedroom and have a strange person confront you."