A MAN who left a teenage girl ‘thinking she would be raped’ as he pinned her to a wall and bit her has escaped an immediate prison sentence.

Luke Jarrett was on a night out in Basingstoke on November 16, last year, when he approached his victim in the Albert Walk alleyway as she waited for lift.

The 19-year-old pestered the girl, aged 18, for a kiss and she gave him a peck on the cheek hoping that he would leave her alone.

On Friday Winchester Crown Court heard that Jarrett pushed his victim up against a wall “demanding more”.

Michael Forster, prosecuting, said the defendant bit her neck for 10 seconds and as she went to scream for help bit her lip.

He continued: “It wasn’t like a love bite, it was a red mark on her neck, [which she said] it really hurt.

“She was pinned up against the wall and he put his hand down to her left buttock. She kept saying ‘no I don’t want this’, she was fearful she would be raped.”

During the attack Jarrett, of Coltsfoot Way, Basingstoke, also touched his victim’s breast on top of her clothing.

The court was told that a passer-by spotted the pair and concerned for the girl he intervened, which made Jarrett walk off not before saying “its your loss” to the victim.

The incident was reported to police in the town centre and the victim said she knew her attacker from when she was younger. DNA was taken from the bite to the neck which matched Jarrett.

When interviewed the attacker said he “couldn’t remember parts of the evening, he knew he had a good time and went home in a taxi”.

After the DNA evidence was presented, he pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing at Basingstoke Magistrates Court to sexually touching his victim without consent.

Jarrett’s barrister Adrienne Knight said her client, who works as a forklift truck driver in a warehouse, was “really ashamed over what he has done”.

She continued: “He has already taken steps to try and sort himself out. For the last year, since his arrest, he has completely cut down [on alcohol]. He has occasionally lapsed; he is certainly not getting so drunk that he cannot remember what he is doing.”

In sentencing, Jarrett was given a 10-month sentence suspended for 24 months. He must also complete 100 hours unpaid work and 30 days rehabilitation.