"Face of convicted sex offender who groped woman in Coventry hotel foyer"

He had previously been given a suspended sentence for sexually assaulting a woman as she waited at a bus stop



Police have released the mugshot of a convicted sex offender who groped a woman in a Coventry hotel foyer.

Judge Anthony Potter said Brian Reilly was a brazen offender and women had a right to go about their lives without being groped by him.

The court heard that he had previously been been given a suspended sentence for sexually assaulting a woman as she waited at a bus stop in Coventry

But after Reilly pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to sexual assault and two charges of failing to comply with his sex offender registration, he was jailed.

This was despite a plea made for him to be given another chance.

The 58-year-old, of no fixed address, was jailed for 16 months – consecutive to eight months of a suspended sentence he was also ordered to serve - and told to register as a sex offender for ten years.

The court heard that in March last year he had been given a ten-month suspended sentence for sexually assaulting a woman as she waited at a bus stop in Coventry.

On that occasion he was also ordered to register as a sex offender, but twice failed to attend a police station to confirm his whereabouts – as he was required to do as a homeless person.

In December last year he was given a community order for another sexual assault after magistrates heard that incident pre-dated him being given the suspended sentence.

Then in April this year he was in the foyer of a Coventry hotel as a woman and her partner were checking in.

He approached her and began banging on the wall with his cane to attract her attention, then grabbed her buttocks while rubbing his crotch with his other hand.

Asking for Reilly to be given another chance, Katya Saudek, defending, pointed out he had already spent three months in custody on remand.

She said he had forgotten about registering with the police because of his alcohol abuse, and had handed himself in after realising he was in breach of the order.

But Judge Anthony Potter said: “This is a man who has exhibited a pattern of activity. On each instance he has said he would address his alcohol use, and has just carried on.

“This has been brazen reoffending by a man who does not have mental health issues.”

And sentencing him, he told Reilly: “Your problem, as you acknowledge, is alcohol. It is assessed as chronic excessive alcohol consumption.

“It seems to me as the judge who had previously given you an opportunity that you do not seem included to address it. You have been given multiple opportunities to address your problem.

“You think you can behave exactly as you wish and that society simply has to put up with your anti-social behaviour.”

And of the latest offence, committed in breach of the suspended sentence and the community order, Judge Potter added: “It can be a profoundly upsetting experience.

“Women are entitled to go about their business without being groped by you.”