Whitby guest house owner jailed nearly four years for sexual assaults

Jason Lee Booth, 51, was owner of the Mulgrave Country Cottage guest house in Sandsend when he preyed on the two victims, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Anne Richardson said the first attack occurred in 2019 at a property in the Whitby area, where Booth stalked up behind the victim, grabbed her round the waist and “chucked” her onto a bed.

He then pinned her down and pulled her trousers and knickers down, before sexually assaulting her.

“She froze and kneed him in the head to get him off,” said Ms Richardson.

Booth, who was drunk, said to her: “Sorry dude, are you alright?”

The young woman, who was a teenager at the time, didn’t report Booth initially because she had “a lot on her mind” but told a friend.

The attack on the second woman occurred in 2020 at a property in Whitby after Booth, described as a “functioning alcoholic”, had drunk copious amounts of wine and strong whisky.

Ms Richardson said that Booth, who was married at the time, had plied the woman with drink and she fell asleep.

She woke to find him pulling her jeans down before sexually assaulting her.

She tried to kick him off but to no avail and fell asleep again.

When she woke for a second time her knickers and jeans had been removed and her underwear was missing.

Both matters were ultimately reported to police and Booth was arrested in September 2020.

He was brought in for questioning but denied any wrongdoing and even sought to blame one of the women for making sexual advances towards him.

He admitted he had taken an intimate photo of the second victim but “with her consent”, which was another lie.

Booth was initially charged with four sexual offences but denied them all, claiming that any sexual contact was “consensual or a joke”.

A trial was set down for April this year and each of the victims appeared for a pre-trial recording of their evidence in January, but Booth didn’t turn up.

He was duly arrested on a bench warrant, remanded in custody and ultimately pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault.

The other two charges were left on court file.

He appeared for sentence via video link today when harrowing victim statements were read out by the prosecution.

One of the victims - neither of whom can be named for legal reasons - said she and her family had endured a “traumatic couple of years filled with dread and anxiety” since the attack.

The second victim said the “whole process” since the attack had “affected me more than I could have imagined”.

“I felt scared, confused and sick,” she added.

She said that what Booth had done to her was “disgusting and really quite scary”.

“I feel I have lost my dignity,” she said.

“I tried to forget about it but I just couldn’t. It was like mental torture. I feel sick just thinking about it.”

She had suffered flashbacks, severe sleeping problems and acute anxiety, and been prescribed medication.

She said Booth had shown “no remorse” and had “made my life hell”.

Defence barrister Vincent Blake-Barnard said Booth’s shocking offences were down to a “a lack of boundaries, but primarily alcohol”.

“He’s disappointed his family, his marriage has fallen apart, his business has almost fallen apart (and) his life has generally fallen apart because of his own actions and particularly his own actions in drink,” he added.

Judge Simon Hickey said Booth had compounded his offences by his initial denials and “dragging (the victims) through the courts”.

Booth was jailed for three years and eight months. He will serve half of that sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence.

He was ordered to sign on the sex-offenders’ register for life and slapped with a 10-year sexual-harm prevention order for the protection of women.

Detective Constable Nick Burton, chief investigating officer with Scarborough CID, said after the sentence: “It took great courage for the victims to come forward and I thank them for standing up to Booth and being brave enough to provide the evidence that led to his convictions.

“Not only has he caused untold harm by sexual assaulting them, but he has prolonged their trauma by continuing to deny the offences.

“I hope the guilty plea and today’s sentence gives the women some degree of closure on the matter and they can finally put this difficult time in their lives behind them.”

He urged victims of sexual offences to come forward to police by contacting the police online or on the non-emergency number 101.

Alternatively, the North Yorkshire Sexual Assault Referral Centre can be contacted on 0330 223 0362.