Man cleared of bus stop sex assault on schoolgirl

Dorian Hirst, 39, was alleged to have touched the girl's bottom as she got on the bus in Watford High Street on 9 December last year.

But he said it was a case of mistaken identity and was found not guilty of sexual assault by a jury at St Albans crown court Monday.

The girl had told the five women and seven men on the jury that a man approached her and had offered £200 for her to do modelling work.

She said she and her younger sister were walking through Meeting Alley in Watford when she was first approached.

The girl, who is now 15, said: “I saw this man coming towards us. He was walking funny. I presumed he had been drinking. I tried to avoid him and move aside.”

But she said he approached her and sister and asked if she did history at school. When she intervened she said he asked her: “Can I talk to you? Can I get you to do some lingerie modelling for me?”.

Giving evidence behind a screen the girl told the court she said “No” that she was “too young” and had to go to school.

She said: “He asked to meet me on the Thursday and said: 'I will give you £200 to model for me'.”

The girl said she refused and he then tried to get her to go around a corner with him.

She told the jury: “I said: 'No, I have got to get my bus'. He said: 'Fair enough' and walked away. I was a bit scared and a bit nervous.”

The girl and her sister went to the bus stop outside Greggs Bakery in the High Street.

On the way she rang her mother to let her know what happened.

The girl said she turned round and saw the man again. He approached a friend and asked her for a cigarette before speaking to her again and asking for a lighter.

Then, as she was at the back of the queue, he came up behind her.

As she got onto the bus she said he whispered: “I will see you later darling", in her ear.

Then, she said, she felt a hand push up her skirt and touch her bottom.

Hirst said it was a case of mistaken identity saying he had not been out that morning.