A 23-YEAR-OLD man has been jailed for one year for sexually assaulting two teenage girls at a last day of school Wyeside gathering last May, after falsely claiming he was a policeman who needed to search them.

Bradford Crown Court heard how Aaron Grimshaw, of Mountview Park, Lisburn, approached the two 16-year-olds in a wooded area at Tutshill Rec near Chepstow.

Aaron Grimshaw was captured after two assaulted teen girls alerted friends who filmed him
Aaron Grimshaw was captured after two assaulted teen girls alerted friends who filmed him (Gloucestershire Police)

He produced a wallet with a metal emblem and told the girls that he would have to take them to a police station or call their parents if they refused the search.

Both girls were scared, and under pretences of the search, Grimshaw proceeded to sexually assault them by touching their breasts, legs and bottoms under their clothing.

One of the girls shouted words to the effect of "no stop, I am not ok with this", and alerted their friends, who gathered around Grimshaw before recording him.

In the video Grimshaw could be heard saying "she consented" and then said he would call for uniformed officers before walking off.

Police were notified and Grimshaw was identified from the video recording and clothing he was wearing and arrested.

During sentencing, segments of the teenage girls’ victim impact statements were read out.

One said: "My last day of school was meant to be filled with fun memories with all my friends but instead got turned into a traumatic, scary and overwhelming day that will haunt me for the rest of my life.

“Although I am trying to move forward the effects are ongoing and have changed me.

“Since I was young, I have always been told to respect police officers and to go to them if I am ever in trouble, but this situation has made me second guess myself in what a real police officer is.

"When this man approached me claiming to be a police officer, I felt intimidated, it has now left me with a trauma and a long-term fear of authority.:

She had to take time away from school and missed an important exam as a result.

The other girl said: "I have struggled with loss of confidence in myself, anxiety and difficulty in trusting others. I have been having nightmares, hearing voices and seeing things that aren't there.

"I no longer feel safe around big crowds and sometimes I feel unsafe walking on my own, especially past men. I find it very hard to believe people are who they say they are.”

Grimshaw admitted sexual assault and was added to the Sex Offender Register indefinitely and issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

He was also sentenced to an extra four and a half years to run consecutively for unrelated offences investigated by West Yorkshire Police, including sexual assault on a female, sexual activity with a child, engaging in sexual communication with a child and making indecent photographs of a child.

Detective Constable Caroline George from the Gloucestershire Child Abuse Investigation Team said: "I would like to thank the two victims for their courage and strength...

"Without this and the quick thinking of their friends to capture Grimshaw on video, we would not have been able to identify, locate and arrest him so quickly.”