A teenager who staged a sex attack on a schoolgirl

A teenager who staged a sex attack on a schoolgirl in
front of her friends has walked free from the Old Bailey with a
two year probation order.

But Judge Geoffrey Grigson told 17-year-old Daniel Stacey:
‘You must understand how close you have come to an immediate and
substantial term of custody.

‘
The judge also took the unusual step of ordering that he
has reports on Stacey every six months to check his progress.

The court heard that what started out as a prank turned into
a humiliating ordeal for the 14-year-old girl.

Stacey, the schoolgirl and three teenage boys had been
walking around Epsom on September 27 last year after a roller
disco at the Rainbow Centre.

In an apparent joke, Stacey suddenly announced he was
going to rip her clothes off.

The laughter of the three boys soon turned into stunned silence
when Stacey carried out the ‘joke’ stripping her off her leggins and
knickers.

The girl claimed he then dragged her into bushes in Mountfield
Gardens, Epsom and raped her.

But in the witness box Stacey fervently denied having intercourse
with the girl.

He said the evidence of bystanders that they saw him on top
of the girls in the bushes was a complete fabrication and part of
a conspiracy against him.

And the court heard their version of events did not completely
tally with each other.

Also on the night after the alleged rape Stacey stayed at the
girl’s home overnight and again later the same week.

She did not make a complain about the incident on September 27
last year for almost a fortnight.

The jury convicted Stacey of indecent assault but could not reach
a verdict on the rape charge, which was dropped by the prosecution.

The teenager thanked the judge as he walked free from court.

ENDS