A MAN who indecently assaulted a girl walked free yesterday.
Raymond Mickle, 23, initially denied the attack but pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial at Newcastle Crown Court in December. He walked free from court after defence barrister Michael Graham said it was an isolated incident.
Sentencing Mickle, Judge Esmond Faulks said: "Normally, the sentence in such cases is one of immediate imprisonment. The public feels disgust to have an older man indecently touch a young girl.
"But I sentence you on the basis which you put forward; this was an isolated incident."
Mickle, of Great North Road, Chester-le-Street, will be on the Sex Offenders' Register for five years.
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