Prolific offender sent down after sexual assaults on two women on bus

A court heard how Colin Andrews had discharged himself from hospital on the morning of the offence after undergoing an operation and still had a cannula in his arm as he boarded the bus.

When approaching one of his two victims, the lady was sat with her eight-year-old daughter on a row of seats at the time, and the young girl then had to witness her mother be sexually assaulted.

The 35-year-old, who has amassed 136 previous convictions within his short lifetime, appeared before Chester Crown Court on Friday for sentencing, having pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault, another of assault by beating and the use of threatening and abusive language to cause distress.

Outlining the case, prosecutor Oliver King said the offences stemmed from an initial interaction with Andrews’ first victim while waiting at a bus stop at around 5.30am on August 22.

“The woman was waiting at the bus stop for the bus when the defendant asked her what bus went to Birchwood.

“She was waiting for the same bus and when it turned up, they both got on. The defendant offered to pay for her ticket, but she declined.”

The woman sat down on a seat and Andrews sat near to her and continued conversing with her, asking her how old she was among other things.

Describing his demeanour, in her account she recalled him to seem ‘off his face and high off something’.

Andrews continued to ask the complainant questions while they were on the bus.  She said he came across as ‘strange’, but she was polite to him nonetheless. However, at the same time as speaking with him, she began texting her boyfriend, asking him to meet her at her stop.

At this point, the second victim got onto the bus with her eight-year-old daughter.

She explained in her account of the incident that she had seen the defendant on the bus previously and he had always been ‘chatty’.

“She said she had seen him offer to buy young girls vapes previously,” Mr King said.

When Andrews noticed the woman, he then moved his attention to her and planted himself on a seat on the same row but near to the middle of the isle. As the woman was sat in a seat closer to the window with her daughter, she was essentially ‘trapped in’ by the defendant.

Andrews’ strange behaviour continued, the court heard, with him pointing to a bandage on his arm and telling his victim that he had ‘punched someone’s teeth out’.

His focus then turned to the victim’s young daughter, telling her that she was ‘going to break hearts’ and complimenting her on her hair.

The sentencing was heard at Chester Crown Court (Image: NQ) “He asked the victim if she had plans for the night.

“She said she did, and he asked if he could come round to her home and drink alcohol with her.”

Andrews sat closer to the victim and asked if her could touch her leg. Before she could respond, he put his hand on her lap.

Mr King added that the complainant started to panic and as the bus was coming to a stop, she attempted to move past the defendant, but he stayed put.

“He put his hand up her dress but she was wearing cycling shorts. His palm was flat on her.

“He then moved it around to her bum,” the prosecutor said. “The woman’s eight-year-old daughter saw this happen and made a comment.”

The pair eventually managed to stand up and escape Andrews, getting off the bus at the next stop.

And the offender took this as his cue to move back onto a seat on the same row as his initial victim who he had joined onto the bus with – sitting similarly on a seat which trapped her into a corner.

Growing more concerned, the victim watched as Andrews took a call on his phone and pulled up his sleeve up to reveal the cannula in his arm which had been used to provide him with aesthetic during his surgery earlier that day.

He asked her if she would help him remove it and she refused. Moments later, the defendant reached over to the victim and touched her nose.

She said no in response to his action and the court heard how he then moved his hand to grope her left breast.

“The victim managed to move past the defendant and get off the bus and went off.

Andrews also departed off the bus and shouted something at the woman as she rushed away and called the police to report the incident.

Cheshire Police officers located the defendant on Bewsey Street that same evening and detained him.

While moving him into a police van, Andrews called one of the officers a f****t.

“The officers were concerned about his welfare and decided to take him to the hospital,” Mr King said.

“Andrews swallowed a red and white tablet as he got out of the van. He asked the officers for a cigarette and then threatened to make the night difficult if they did not give him one.”

Colin Andrews was jailed for the offences (Image: Cheshire Police) While waiting in A and E to be seen, Andrews grew more aggressive by the minute towards the police officers, kicking out at one and then the other.

Eventually the officers were forced to move him into a corridor and away from the general public.

He spat in the face of one police officer and kicked out again, winding one of the officers – which he described in a statement as being ‘extremely painful’.

More police personnel were called to the scene as back up and Andrews was restrained to the floor of the hospital.

Defending, Richard Thomas said his client could not remember any of the events that happened on the evening of the offences.

“He had been in hospital for an operation earlier that day and rather than stay in the hospital he walked out,” Mr Thomas told the court.

“He thinks he consumed alcohol after, and he cannot remember any of his behaviour on the bus or at the hospital.”

Mr Thomas went on to confirm his client’s extensive record made up of 136 previous convictions.

“It’s fair to say he feels absolute shame. He has never done anything like this, and he cannot understand why he did what he did on this occasion.”

Concluding, judge Simon Berkson addressed the defendant before sentencing him.

“Two innocent women wanted to get a bus that day. Just a normal day to day activity like it should have been for them.

“As people do, they tried to get away from you and not engage with you. But that engagement with them included you assaulting them sexually.

“Your behaviour shocked them and even more so shocked one of the victim’s eight-year-old daughter.”

He continued: “When the police tried to arrest you, you became violent and aggressive.

“You fought with them at the hospital while they were trying to help you.

“You are a man with a terrible criminal record. You have been in and out of prison your whole life.”

Andrews, of Castle Street, Northwich, was handed a 12-month immediate prison sentence, of which he will serve half before being released on licence.

A restraining order was also imposed not to contact the victims for seven years.