A DRUNKEN man who sexually assaulted a woman in Bolton town centre as she waited for a bus home has been jailed for 12 months.

Bolton Crown Court heard yesterday how Nigel Moran was drunk when he approached the 47-year-old woman at a bus stop on Deansgate on November 15 last year.

David Clarke, prosecuting, said Moran, aged 43, of Evesham Close, Bolton, was menacing and aggressive as he walked up to the woman at 7.20pm and made racial remarks.

“He tried to grab her cigarette but then went on to rub his hands across her breasts,” said Mr Clarke.

Moran, who had drunk at least eight pints that afternoon and evening, tried to grab the frightened woman before attempting to kiss her.

The woman ran away and was seen by a man who took her to a taxi office, where the police were contacted.

Using the woman’s description, officers traced Moran to the nearby McDonalds and arrested him.

Mr Clarke said the incident had badly affected the woman. She is now learning to drive so she does not have to take public transport in the evenings and has changed her working hours so she does not have to go home in the dark.

He added: “She was left feeling frightened and upset, sick and violated.”

Moran initially denied having assaulted the woman but subsequently pleaded guilty to sexual assault and racially aggravated harassment.

Peter Cunliffe, defending, said Moran’s behaviour was out of character and followed a day off work when he had been drinking heavily. Mr Cunliffe added: “He accepts it was appalling behaviour. But for the alcohol and its disinhibiting effects, he would not have committed this offence and lost his self control.”

Jailing Moran, Recorder Nicholas Clarke, QC, told him: “The fact you have accosted a stranger in the street in the manner you have is totally abhorrent.”