A York man has been jailed for making sexually explicit comments to two lone women in the city centre.
David Karl Hampton, 56, of no fixed address, admitted two offences of using threatening words or behaviour, two of failing to comply with the notification requirements of the sex offenders register and one of failing to surrender to custody when he appeared at York Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, 26th October 2021.
He was sentenced at the same court on Friday, 19th November 2021.
Using threatening words or behaviour is an offence under section 4 of the Public Order Act 1986. It has a maximum penalty of 26 weeks' custody and/or an unlimited fine on summary conviction.
Failing to comply with the notification requirements of the sex offenders register is an offence under section 91 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. It has a maximum penalty of 26 weeks' custody and/or an unlimited fine on summary conviction; 5 years' custody on conviction on indictment.
We have previously written about the offence of failing to surrender to custody.
Magistrates heard that Hampton approached the women in the early hours on Friday, 24th September 2021.
At 1.10 am he approached the first woman, aged in her early 20s. She was walking alone through Micklegate Bar and along Micklegate towards the city centre.
Hampton made a series of sexually explicit comments to the woman, which left he terrified. She fled the scene and reported the incident to the police.
Just 20 minutes later Hampton approached a woman, aged in her 40s, on Queen Street, adjacent to York Railway Station.
He again told her, in sexually explicit terms, exactly what he wanted to do to her.
The police arrested Hampton, who is well known to them, a short while later at just after 2 am.
The victim personal statement of the first woman was read to the court.
In it, she said: "The actions of this man have left me feeling terrified. I felt extremely distressed, anxious and disgusted.
"I am unable to sleep without my boyfriend there because I feel so paranoid that he is out on the street near my house. I feel completely vulnerable and unsafe going out on my own and will not leave the house alone at night because this experience has left me so scared.
"As he was making these threats to me, I was completely paralysed with fear, because I fully felt that he was going to hurt me. This feeling has stayed with me in the weeks since, and I am constantly tearful every time I think about it.
"The threats that he made ring in my head constantly, and I have had multiple nightmares where he is following me again. This event has made me feel very lonely and distrustful of every man I see on the street. I am constantly looking and scanning people’s faces, looking for him in case he is nearby.
"The thought that this man is wandering the streets at night makes me fearful for my own safety and the safety of any other woman walking alone.
"As a result of his actions, I do not feel safe or relaxed in my own home or walking around my local area. This feeling of fear will stay with me, I know that it will take me a long time to regain the confidence to walk on my own.
"As a young woman this has had a huge impact on my working and my social life, as well as my mental health. I have stopped seeing my friends and going out on an evening, it is disabling the way I feel as a person and the way I live my life. It has left me feeling very isolated.
"I have recently been promoted at work, but this incident has stripped me of the joy and pride I would have normally felt, because I feel so distracted and fearful.
"I believe this behaviour needs to be taken as the warning sign that it is. I do not want another woman to feel the fear and the anxiety that I am enduring."
Hampton has been committing sexual offences in the city for the last 20 years. He was jailed in 2018 for walking up to a young woman in York Railway Station and whispering sexually explicit comments into her ear.
Magistrates' were of the opinion that his latest offences were so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence was appropriate.
Hampton was sentenced to 12 months' custody, the maximum sentence available to the court.
Speaking after the hearing Anne Yates, of North Yorkshire Police, said: "David Karl Hampton is a sexual predator, and these offences are entirely sexually motivated.
"The deeply disturbing and sickening words he used towards his victims made the women believe he was going to carry out his threats.
"Hampton has been terrorising lone women for years and these incidents occurred at a time when the safety of women and girls is at the forefront of the public's minds."
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