December 2014
Sex offender jailed for grabbing and kissing four-year-old girl on the lips
PERVERT Robert Colclough kissed a four-year-old girl on her lips on a bus.
The youngster was on the single decker travelling to Hanley with her family when Colclough sat next to her.
The 44-year-old allowed the girl to see a game on his mobile phone before asking her to give him a kiss.
She tried to walk away but he grabbed her and kissed her on her lips.
Police arrested the defendant and found thousands of indecent images of children on his phones.
Now Colclough has been jailed for eight months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court – to run consecutively to a three-year, four-month sentence he received in April for robbery and possession of a knife in public.
Prosecutor Fiona Cortese said the victim was sitting near the back of the bus with her sister when the defendant boarded near Stoke railway station. Her family was towards the front of the bus.
Miss Cortese said: “He sat next to the girl and engaged her and her sister. He asked about the game they were playing.
“She said she was four years old. He allowed her to see a game on his mobile.
“He asked the girl to give him a kiss. She tried to walk away. He grabbed her by the hand, turned her round, and kissed her on her lips.”
The family and their family got off the bus at Hanley bus station and the girls pointed the defendant out to their mother who challenged him. The police were informed and the defendant, who appeared to be drunk, was arrested.
Police attended Colclough’s home in Maidstone Grove, Bentilee.
Miss Cortese said: “Officers noticed a number of children’s Thomas the Tank Engines.”
The police were called to the defendant’s house the next day after he self-harmed.
Colclough told officers he had downloaded indecent images of children and was addicted to the images. He added he ‘wasn’t right in the head’.
His mobile phones were analysed and found to contain two category A images – the most serious – two at category B and 2,332 at category C.
In his police interview, Colclough said kissing the girl on the lips was a silly thing to do. He added with hindsight it was not appropriate behaviour.
He said he was single, did not have children, and collected Thomas the Tank Engine trains.
Colclough, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a child and nine charges of possession of indecent photographs of children.
Robin Lichfield, mitigating, said Colclough was under a lot of stress at work and was drinking a lot.
His arrest made him more stressed and the next day he committed a robbery and self-harmed.
Mr Lichfield said: “He is sorry for what he did to this young girl. He hopes she was not traumatised.”
Colclough was made the subject of a five year sexual offences prevention order and will be on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.
