A man who pushed into a teenager in an Ipswich shopping centre and sniffed her neck has won his appeal against a suspended prison sentence.

The 15-year-old was out shopping with her mother in the Buttermarket Shopping Centre on February 7 when Michael Kamp approached her and used his whole body weight to push into her, causing her to become unsteady on her feet.

He had then leant into her and took a “really deep sniff” of her neck before running away, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Kamp, 36, of Willoughby Road, Ipswich, admitted sexual assault when he appeared before magistrates and was given a six-month prison, sentence suspended for two years, and ordered to take part in the Thames Valley sex offenders’ treatment programme.

He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for seven years.

Today, Kamp successfully appealed against the sentence and had the suspended prison sentence and the sex offenders’ treatment programme quashed and replaced with a 12-month community order and a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

The period he will have to sign the sex offenders’ register was reduced to five years.

The court heard that the girl was out shopping with her mother when she noticed Kamp looking at her and when he walked over to her she thought he wanted to ask her a question.

The court heard the incident made her feel uncomfortable and uneasy about going out alone.

Kamp, who required an appropriate adult to be present during his police interview, told officers he didn’t like young girls in a sexual way.

He said he was on his way out of the shopping centre when he saw the girl and thought she was in her late teens or early 20s.

He liked the look of her and looked into her eyes before bumping into her. He then saw she was horrified and felt ashamed and ran off.

Craig Marchant, for Kamp, said the incident had been short-lived and his client had not touched parts of the girl’s body normally associated with sexual touching.

He said his client had autism and lived at home with his mother.