A man groped a woman and tried to put his hands down her trousers in a city centre restaurant, a court has heard.
Andrei Grijuc, 30, of no fixed abode, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday after pleading guilty to two counts of sexual assault, and one count of failing to surrender. Callum Ross, prosecuting, detailed that during summer last year, the defendant was working at Bon Pan Asian Restaurant in Clayton Square, where he assaulted two women on separate dates.
Mr Ross detailed the first assault: “He placed his arms around her and grabbed her right breast over her clothing. “He began to kiss the neck area of the complainant, and his hands then touched her buttocks over clothing.
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“The defendant has attempted to kiss her on the lips, and has then leaned in and begun to kiss the complainants neck again. “The defendant appears to have grabbed her genital area, again over clothing.
“The complainant has attempted to push the defendant away from her, and he has then grabbed both of her breasts again over clothing and attempted to give the complainant what is commonly known as a love bite on her neck.” The assault took place over a three minute period, and Grijuc remained emotionless as CCTV of the full incident was shown in court.
That victim called the police to report the assault, and during their investigations, they were made aware of another victim. She disclosed that on another date, the defendant had touched, stroked and rubbed her right thigh, on two separate occasions.
Grijuc was interviewed and denied the touching was sexual in nature. Relating to the first victim, he made no admissions in interview, but said “he felt bad about his actions” when shown the CCTV.
The 30-year-old was released on bail with the condition to return to his next court hearing for sentence, but he failed to do so. The court heard today that he had travelled to Romania, claiming to have lost his personal ID documents.
However, he remained in Romania for several months, and was only captured by police in March of this year at Folkestone. A victim personal statement was written by the first victim shortly after the incident, and read by the prosecution.
It read: “If someone touches me unexpectedly I jump and get scared, even if it is family or friends.
“Family and friends are concerned about me, I used to enjoy going out and being chatty, but since the incident I have become withdrawn.”
The victim said she “broke down” when she heard that Grijuc had not returned for his court date and was on the run, as she had “no idea where he was” and was worried she would see him.
She said: “I felt completely vulnerable, I don’t know where he was.
“My life has been completely changed since the incident, I feel as if I have become a recluse.
“I miss my old life and the way I used to be, he has completely turned my life upside down and my life has changed forever in a way I didn’t choose or want.”
Grijuc has two previous convictions for five offences, including theft, going equipped for theft, and failure to surrender in 2019, and criminal damage and going equipped for theft in July 2022. Nick Cockrell, defending, said his client did plead guilty at the earliest opportunity, and had instructed him that he always intended to come back to the UK.
He also highlighted that though he has some previous convictions, none are of a sexual nature.
In sentencing, Judge Brian Cummings KC said: “The pre-sentence report says you lack insight into your offending, have demonstrated only basic victim empathy and in my judgement have demonstrated no meaningful remorse.”
Grijuc was sentenced to ten months imprisonment for both counts of sexual assault, and a further four months for failing to surrender, totalling 14 months imprisonment. He was ordered to pay a victim surcharge and will be subject to notification requirements for ten years.
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