A MARTLESHAM man has been forced to pay compensation to a supermarket worker whose bottom he touched as she worked in the store.

A MARTLESHAM man has been forced to pay compensation to a supermarket worker whose bottom he touched as she worked in the store.

At an earlier hearing Nicholas Cullum, 45, of Chandos Court, had admitted touching the woman inappropriately during a visit to the Martlesham Tesco store on October 10.

South East Suffolk magistrates decided to spare him jail. Instead, they made a community order for 12 months which requires him to work with the probation service to address his behaviour.

He was also ordered to pay his victim £150 compensation and fork out £55 prosecution costs.

Gareth Davies, prosecuting, said the woman had been working on the shop floor and had felt someone touch her bottom despite there being plenty of space for people to walk past.

After this had happened several times she reported it to her colleagues and security staff.

She had seen Cullum earlier but when she reported his actions, he could not be found.

Mr Davies said: “He came back to the store and said 'I think you're looking for me,' and the police were called.”

During his interview with the police, Cullum admitted he had stroked the woman's bottom with the back of his hand because he thought she was attractive.

Mr Davies read a witness statement from the woman saying the incident had affected her confidence, and that she was now too nervous to work on the shop floor and works behind the scenes.

Charles Riddleston, mitigating for Cullum, said his client was very ashamed of his actions and wanted to offer a considerably larger sum of compensation to the victim.

He said he had been unemployed for 20 years because of mental illness, and he and his 80-year-old mother relied on each other completely.

Mr Riddleston said Cullum had since been banned from Tesco at Martlesham by the manager and had made no attempt to return there or make any contact with the victim.