Manchester man who took woman half his age on holiday to Blackpool jailed for groping her

Anthony Hall, who was said in court to have climbed into the 25-year-old's bed and groped her after a night out, was sent to prison for 18 months at Preston Crown Court.

A judge was told the victim trusted him so much that she agreed to share a room. But partway through the holiday he arrived back drunk in the early hours, stripped down to shorts and T-shirt and jumped into her bed while she was trying to get to sleep.

He then touched her indecently, tried to kiss her and, being sexually aroused, pushed himself against her from behind, and wrapped his legs around hers.

When she managed to free herself and climb into the other bed, he followed her and started to do the same things again.

Two audio recordings the woman made of him as he tried to get his way were played in court as the victim and her family sat at the back of the public gallery out of view of Hall.

In both she could be heard clearly rejecting his advances and telling him: “Stop, stop, stop!”

Hall, of Wilton Court, Denton, Manchester, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the woman knowing she did not consent.

The court heard the two, who had known each other for years, initially planned a short holiday together in Amsterdam in January 2024, but that had fallen through.

She said he had made some unexpected sexual innuendos at the time, but she shrugged them off.

Two months later she agreed to go on a trip to Blackpool with him and stay in the same hotel room which had both a double and a single bed.

They went out for a meal and later she went back to the room leaving Hall drinking. He was said to be drunk when he arrived back at around 2am.

She heard movement in the room and saw him getting changed into his nightwear. But instead of getting into the double bed, he climbed into the single alongside her. He began trying to kiss her and saying he wanted to touch her, said prosecution barrister Peter Barr.

The woman told him he was being “weird” and forcibly said “no”. But he continued and she felt him pressing up against her lower back before putting his legs around hers.

In one of the audio clips played in court he said to her: “Do you want me to or not?” She replied: “No, obviously not. I shouldn’t need to say that.”

When she managed to wriggle free, she jumped into the double bed, but Hall once again slid in beside her and continued making unwanted advances. In both beds he tried to touch her private parts over her underwear.

When the two woke up the following morning Hall immediately apologised. Neither discussed what had happed the night before and they stayed in the resort for the rest of the holiday, with nothing more happening.

When he was reported and arrested eight months later he denied all the allegations.

Two victim impact statements were read out in court in which the woman said she had been very angry and confused about what had happened. “I will never be able to look at him the same way.”

Since the incident she said she had suffered from headaches, suffered from anxiety, had panic attacks and struggled to sleep. She said Hall had committed the assault “for a reason I will never understand”.

She added that she had considered fleeing from the hotel room and going home to Manchester but had felt unable to escape because it was after 2am and she was in Blackpool with no transport.

Hall’s counsel said the offence had clearly been upsetting for the woman and the defendant felt true remorse and shame for what he had done.

He had said he took full responsibility for what happened that night. “I took advantage of her,” Hall had said.

Judge Richard Archer told Hall he had been “significantly under the influence of alcohol” and he had got into the same bed “with the purpose of engaging in sexual activity”.

He said the audio clips the victim recorded during the assault proved she “didn’t want to do what you wanted to do and to stop it”.

The judge said the offence was a sustained assault and amounted to an abuse of trust.

He sent Hall to prison for 18 months, rejecting a request from his lawyer to suspend the sentence and saying only an immediate custodial term would be appropriate.

He also ordered him to notify police of his whereabouts and circumstances for the next 10 years.