Paedophile jogger cruelly 'smirked' after groping teenage girls in Stockton Heath and Appleton

Simon Murawski, 31, appeared in Liverpool Crown Court after targeting teenage victims in Stockton Heath and Appleton earlier this year.

He was spared jail less than two years previously in 2018 after he was caught with a sickening stash of child sex abuse images.

The court heard how Murawski, of Aigburth, Liverpool, targeted an 18-year-old woman on London Road, Stockton Heath, on January 2, while out running near his mum's house.

Anna Price, prosecuting, said the victim was walking alone when he grabbed her buttocks, then jogged off without saying a word.

Minutes later, he grabbed the bottom of a 17-year-old girl, just before the victim's mum arrived in her car.

They followed the jogger and her mum confronted him outside Broomfields Leisure Centre, but he denied doing anything.

Ms Price said Murawski struck again at midday on January 5, groping the buttocks of a 16-year-old girl, who was walking along Westbourne Road with two friends.

The shocked group of girls all described Murawski smirking and later picked him out in an identity parade.

Murawski returned to Liverpool on January 8 and even went on holiday to Italy without telling police - a breach of his notification requirements as a sex offender.

He later returned to Appleton on March 28.

CCTV released by police following the defendant's first spate of attacks

The court was told that on the evening of April 1, he squeezed the bottom of a 15-year-old girl, who was walking along Cann Lane.

Murawski groped another 15-year-old girl, who was out with her mum walking their dog on Cann Lane, on April 8.

The next day an officer out looking for the jogger spotted and arrested Murawski, whose home was searched, where a small bag of cannabis was found.

Murawski denied two counts of sexual assault - claiming he had been misidentified - in a four-day trial.

He was convicted by a jury and later pleaded guilty to a further three counts of sexual assault.

Murawski previously admitted failing to comply with his notification requirements and possessing cannabis.

He has one previous conviction for five offences of downloading and possessing indecent images of children, for which he received a two-year community order in November 2018, which he has now breached.

Murawski, who appeared via video link from HMP Liverpool, represented himself throughout the proceedings.

Judge David Swinnerton read out a Probation Service pre-sentence report, in which the author said Murawski claimed he was 'playing a game and seeking an adrenaline rush' and at the time didn't realise the harm he was causing to the girls.

Judge Swinnerton said: "You're plainly an intelligent man, but you're unable to control your sexual urges."

He added that he 'didn't give any thought whatsoever' to his victims' feelings.

He said: "You have destroyed their confidence and feeling of safety in being able to walk around their own town.

"They were vulnerable to you, that's why you picked on them."

He jailed him for three years for the new offences and re-sentenced him for the indecent images offence in 2018, imposing a further four months behind bars.

The judge said Murawski must sign on the Sex Offenders Register for the rest of his life.