Convicted sex offender tried to hug and kiss woman in back of church.

A convicted sex offender was jailed for 20 weeks after he tried to hug and kiss a woman in front of her young daughter at a church.

Stephen Denison, 50, who has two previous convictions for sexual assault, including one where he left a teenage schoolgirl hyperventilating in shock by groping her at a city centre bus station, spotted the woman and child at the church in Fenham, Newcastle, in May this year.

Denison sat next to the woman and hugged her before "forcibly pulling her" towards him and trying to kiss her, Newcastle Magistrates' Court heard. The terrified victim pushed him away as concerned members of the public intervened.

Denison, of Baxter Avenue, Fenham, was arrested and charged with one count of sexual assault. He failed to appear for a subsequent hearing, but was finally detained last month and pleaded guilty to the offence.

Prosecutor Gurjot Kaur said the victim, who was unknown to Denison, was sitting in the church with her young daughter when he approached them.

"The defendant initially hugged her. He kept trying to talk to her and offered her daughter a coin. The defendant then put his arm around her back and made an attempt to forcibly pull her towards him to try and kiss her. She pushed him away," Miss Kaur said.

In a statement, the victim said she had been left suffering from heart palpitations and having to take anti-nausea pills. She also said she had been unable to return to the church since the incident.

The court heard that Denison had 46 offences on his record, including two for sexual assault from 2021 and 2016. For the 2021 offence, he was jailed for 16 months and made to sign the Sex Offenders' Register for 10 years.

Andy O'Hanlon, defending, said Denison wasn't "bad to the bone" but, instead, "undiagnosed" with a limited understanding.

"He hasn't addressed his offending behaviour in custody. Probation want to keep working with him on an intensive basis. Doing something to stop him drinking so heavily would be a good start. You can lock him up for a short time but it won't address anything. Probation want to put a great deal of work into him. Until that's done, he will just wander around being a pain," Mr O'Hanlon said.

Magistrates jailed Denison for 20 weeks and told him he must also sign the Sex Offenders' Register for seven years.