A NIGHT prowler who drove round town centre nightspots looking for vulnerable women to give lifts home has been jailed for two years and four months.

John Ritchie used to patrol the streets in his car hunting for females who were the worse for wear and then offer them assistance.

But police spotted the burly 47-year-old with a sex worker who later claimed she could remember nothing after taking a sip from a bottle of drink he gave her.

Though he insisted he had not drugged the woman, when his phone was examined it was found he had taken pictures as he molested her during a four-hour ordeal.

And a court heard shaven-headed Ritchie has a previous conviction for assault when he locked a sex worker in his car.

Now Judge Jason Taylor QC said he is very concerned about his actions and made him subject to a sexual harm prevention order on his release.

Rob Welling, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court how Ritchie picked up the sex worker on Manchester Road at about 10pm last Halloween.

After agreeing £30 for oral sex they drove off but the victim said she remembered nothing after taking a swig from an open bottle of drink he gave her in the car.

At about 2am the following morning police passing the car park of B&M near the Transfer Bridges spotted the couple in a car and went to investigate.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was virtually comatose and in the passenger seat which was fully reclined, with her jeans and knickers pulled down.

Police body cam footage was played showing Ritchie telling officers that he had seen her staggering about and was giving her a lift home.

He was reluctant to provide them with his phone number and the woman, who has a history of addiction and abuse, was at that point also not keen to talk to cops.

But a week later she contacted police to tell what she recalled of the night, insisting she would not undress off to perform oral sex, later adding she would never allow herself to be photographed.

Police used number plate recognition to find Ritchie’s car had moved all over town that night, including going home where he changed his clothes.

His phone was examined and it was found he had taken eight photos, in two sets, of the woman’s genitalia with him touching them and pulling back her underwear.

Mr Welling said he was released on bail but in April twice breached his conditions by having females in his car when he was banned from doing so.

He said he accepted he would wait around outside Casbah and other nightclubs and ‘out of concern for drunk women’ give them lifts home.

Mr Welling said as and when the police spoke to him he changed his vehicle, but again number plate recognition found he had been going to Manchester Road.

In a victim personal statement the woman said her troubled life had not toughened her to what happened, and she would now rather suffer the agonies of withdrawing from drugs than going back to work the streets.

Ritchie, of Toynbee Avenue, Tadpole Gardens, admitted sexual assault.

The court heard he had a number of previous convictions including a common assault where he detained a sex worker in his car.

Emma Handslip, defending, said her client accepted he had taken advantage of the situation and was adamant he had not drugged her.

She said the images were for his own use and would not have been distributed adding that he had a number of his own issues.

Passing sentence the judge said “The effect of what you did to her will remain with her just as much as they would for any woman.

“When you saw that woman in her comatose state you targeted her.

“This was more than taking advantage of somebody. You kept her in that car for hours which ordinarily is not something a street worker would do for only £30 and it was you who removed her clothing and took those photos.

“You accept you also drive around late at night to give lifts to females who you think needed help as they were the worse for wear gives great concern.

“It is hard for me to identify whether there is any real remorse as you have sought to minimise your actions, but I do accept there is shame.”

'Victims will be treated with compassion and understanding'

WILTSHIRE Police urged sexual assault victims to come forward in the wake of John Ritchie’s conviction.

Det Sgt Bob Cooper, of the county force, said: “This is an extremely worrying case, where Ritchie has targeted a vulnerable woman, a sex worker with substance abuse problems, and then sexually assaulted her.

“We hope this case proves how seriously we take allegations of sexual assault and that victims can feel confident in coming forward and speaking to police.

“Victims of sexual violence, whatever the circumstance or a person’s background, will be treated with compassion and understanding whilst the police investigate the reported crime.

“We will always take seriously any complaint made by a victim, whether that is a person who has been the victim of sexual violence in a relationship, by someone known or, as in this case, a stranger.

“Ritchie’s previous behaviour is obviously concerning and, although we have carried out a thorough investigation, we would urge anyone who believes they may have been a victim of any kind of sexual assault, either by him or someone else, to call us.

“We have specially-trained officers to provide support, and more specialist emotional care is offered by the five Independent Sexual Violence Advisors based in the Swindon and Wiltshire Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) who act independently of the police.

“If victims aren’t ready or don’t feel able to report their experience directly to the police I would encourage them to use the confidential reporting process provided by the SARC, where they will be able to access trained nurses and doctors who will provide forensic medical, health care and wider sexual health advice.

“This confidential reporting will not disclosed to the police unless a victim agrees.”

SARC can be contacted by calling 01793 781916 or emailing sw.sarc@firstlight.cjsm.net, while the Independent Sexual Violence Advisors can be reached on 01225 777724 or Admin@splitz.org

To read more about the support on offer for victims, see www.wiltshire.police.uk/article/1134/Rape-and-sexual-assault

The Nelson Trust

The Nelson Trust runs the Sex Worker Outreach Project (SWOP) in Swindon. The project was set up to support women who are involved in street-based sex working to fund their addiction.

A spokesman for the trust said: “One of the ways the project helps tackle crime is by sharing intelligence about violent punters and pimps, raping or sexually exploiting women and girls and breaching license conditions of existing offences – through reporting to and sharing intelligence from the national Ugly Mugs scheme and local police.”