A teenage girl who was indecently assaulted on a bus in broad daylight said she had been unable to speak, move or even breathe during her ‘gut wrenching’ ordeal.

Her victim impact statement was read out at the Court of General Gaol Delivery as Craig Philip Teare, 38, was jailed after admitting indecent assault.

His victim courageously sat in the public gallery to see him sentenced to 30 months for the assault plus a further three months for breach of a suspended sentence which he had received just weeks before the attack.

Deemster Graeme Cook told him: ‘You accept, as you should, it was an abhorrent display of over-sexualised behaviour on a particularly vulnerable young girl sitting on a bus going to work.

‘She has suffered in my judgment severe psychological damage as a result. You have had a devastating effect on this young girl.’

Prosecutor Kath Johnson told the court that the 18-year-old victim, who said she believes looks younger than her years, had caught the bus at Port Erin railway station at 6.40pm on Tuesday May 14.

The teenager left the court while video footage was played showing the defendant flagging down the bus and then sitting in the seat in front of the young woman. He moved to the seat across the aisle from her and then sat next to her, so close that he was practically on top of her.

Teare offered her a line of cocaine, which she refused and then introduced himself and as he did so kissed the side of her face. He then put him arm around her neck and pulled her towards him and tried to kiss her with his tongue out, telling her ‘kiss me, you’re fit’.

He put his free hand under her crop top in an assault that lasted about 30 seconds and tried to kiss her again before rubbing his hand on her leg and carrying out another assault.

Panicking, she jumped up, telling him she was going to speak to a friend and went towards the back of the bus where she asked a passenger to pretend that he knew her and told him what had happened by writing it on her mobile.

The woman got off the bus with him in Castletown and went to a pub where she knew the manager and where she thought she would feel safe.

But the defendant followed them and grabbed her arm and tried to pull her towards him, and asked her to go to the toilet with him.

She managed to break free and get behind the bar. She felt defenceless.

The manager told her to go upstairs and ordered Teare to leave. Upstairs she felt sick and her legs felt like jelly. The young passenger who had helped her could see she was physically shaking and she was scared that her attacker might still be waiting outside.

Police were called and the defendant subsequently arrested in the early hours of the following morning in Station Road, Ballasalla. The victim told police that during her ordeal she was unable to speak, move or even breathe and she ‘froze up completely’. She described the incident as ‘sick, horrible and gut-wrenching’.

In a victim impact statement she said she can no longer bring herself to go out in public alone and she couldn’t get on a bus without having a panic attack. She described a ‘manic episode’ she’d had at home a month later which had resulted in her being admitted to hospital.

The court heard that the defendant, of Crossag Close, Ballasalla, had been under the influence of cocaine and drink when her carried out the assault.

His defence advocate Paul Rodgers said the incident was caused by his client’s ‘extreme use’ of drugs and was ‘completely out of character.

The court heard that the assault was carried out just a couple of weeks after Teare had been handed a suspended sentence for shoplifting.

Deemster Cook said he would support the presentation of a Chief Constable’s recommendation to the young man who had helped protect the victim, saying many people would not have done what he had done.

He told the teenage victim that she was very brave for attending court for the sentencing and told her that he hoped that in time that she made a full recovery.

Teare will serve half his sentence, less time spent on remand, before being released on licence.

He will also be placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely and was handed a five-year sexual harm prevention order.