Serial Kettering pervert groped woman in Horsemarket after she sat down on bench next to him

Northampton Crown Court heard that the female victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, sat down in Horsemarket, Kettering, next to the defendant.

Anthony Farrow, 35, quickly pulled her towards him and put his hand down her top, touching her breast.

He then asked her what colour underwear she was wearing before putting his hands down the back of her trousers and touching her bottom.

The woman reported the incident to police and was said to be in a ‘distressed state’.

In interview, Farrow denied the allegation, said to have occurred in May last year, but eventually pleaded guilty when his DNA was found on the inside of her bra.

The court was told that the woman has been left scared to go outside and vulnerable. She now avoids going into the Horsemarket area.

Farrow, of HMP Peterborough but formerly of Kettering and Corby, has ten previous convictions on his record for offences including arson and wasting police time.

In 2021 he was caught by an online paedophile hunter group attempting to ask a 13-year-old girl to send him knickers.

After serving half of a 16 month sentence he was released, but then was jailed for six months after lifting up a 12-year-old’s skirt at a bus stop in Kettering.

He was again released but after three months but was immediately recalled after breaching the conditions of his release so appeared at Thursday’s court hearing via videolink from HMP Peterborough.

Mitigating for Farrow, Isabella Glendinning, said her client’s probation report identified ‘multiple needs’, and said he had been diagnosed with autism.

She added: “He hasn’t been properly monitored in the community and he’s alcohol dependent.

"He hasn’t been supported in the way he needs to be."

Her Honour Judge Rebecca Crane sentenced Farrow to six months in jail. He will have to serve half of the sentence before he is released. He is already the subject of a sexual harm prevention order.