Drunk jailed at Preston Crown Court for trying to force himself on two women at Morecambe house party

Dean Cheeseman was said to have groped one on a couch and tried to kiss the other.

The 25-year-old, who admitted he was intoxicated at the time, pleaded guilty to one charge of sexual assault and one of common assault when he appeared before Judge Robert Altham at the city’s Crown Court.

The Honorary Recorder of Preston jailed him for a total of 13 months after hearing both women – one of them only 17 at the time – had been traumatised by Cheeseman’s unwanted advances.

The court was told the self-confessed alcoholic attended a house party in Morecambe in November 2023. Out of the blue he sat down next to one of the women guests on a settee and tried to hug her.

Prosecuting barrister Harriet Eglinton said the woman attempted to pull away, but Cheeseman put his hand on her thigh. She removed it and tried to get up and leave, but he grabbed her by the neck and tried to kiss her on the lips.

She left the room but he followed her and put his hand around her shoulder pinning her up against the wall. Once again he put his hand on her thigh, but she pushed him off and left the house with a friend.

Later he was outside the property talking to a woman whose 17-year-old daughter was also at the party. When the mother had left Cheeseman came up close to the teenager and began making remarks about her clothing. He told her she was “pretty” and “sexy” and tried to give her a hug.

He put his hand on her back and her chest and, because she didn’t want to cause an issue in front of people, she pushed him away saying she felt sick. At that point Cheeseman suggested they go somewhere where they could be alone.

Ms Eglinton said the teenager felt under threat and walked off. But Cheeseman shouted: “You bitch, you get back here.”

She told him not to talk to her like that and, as she walked away, he caught up with her, pinned her to a skip and tried to kiss her. He was seen trying to touch her bottom and then he put his head into her neck in an attempt to bite her.

She managed to pull away and left. But his behaviour was witnessed by a number of people and ended with him getting into a confrontation with a man at the party.

Police were called and Cheeseman gave “no comment” answers to all questions in an interview. But later he made a prepared statement with his solicitor in which he said the accusations by the women were “malicious” and called the people at the party “a vile lot”.

The older of the women told the court in a victim impact statement that the incident with Cheeseman had affected her social life, saying she no longer wanted to go out. She was no longer in touch with the people at the party. She also said she now worried about her body and had started to wear baggy clothes and look more masculine to stop inviting attention from men.

The 17-year-old said her life had changed too as a result of the incident. It had affected her mental health and she added: “I just don’t want to be around people at all.”

She said she had never met Cheeseman before the party. “He was a total stranger. He had no right to do what he did to me. I felt disgusted with myself. I kept going over it in my mind and blaming myself.”

The court heard that prior to the incidents at the party Cheeseman had been a man of good character. But during the two-year wait for the matter to come to court he had been convicted of two offences of possessing an offensive weapon – one of them a so-called Zombie knife.

Richard Flook, defending, said his client was an alcoholic who needed support in addressing the underlying cause of his behaviour. “It is obvious the underlying issue is alcohol,” he said.

He urged the judge to consider a suspended sentence in order to give Cheeseman a chance to get the help and support he needed.

“He is only 23, he is a young man who has never been in custody before. He is nervous about the prospect of going into custody. He would be vulnerable in prison.”

In sentencing Judge Altham said he had taken into account that Cheeseman, of no fixed address, had no previous convictions at the time he assaulted the two women and was still only 23.

He gave him a 13-month prison sentence for sexual assault and four weeks for common assault to run concurrently. He turned down the chance to suspend the sentences saying he felt Cheeseman represented a risk of reoffending.

“One hopes that during the time you have in custody you will learn to accept the help being offered to you.”

The judge made him the subject of a restraining order banning him from having any contact with his two victims for a period of 10 years.