A man has been jailed for 18 months for an "unprovoked and disgraceful" sex attack on a young mum as she walked her daughter home from nursery.
Hamilton Sheriff Court heard that John Welsh wrestled his victim to the ground and ripped off her underwear before running away.
A witness who went to help the traumatised woman said she was "screaming her head off".
Welsh, 25, denied sexual assault in Blackmoss Drive and Mansfield Road, Bellshill, but a jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict.
The woman told the court she was walking with her three-year-old daughter when she was grabbed from behind and fell to the ground.
Her attacker put his hand up her skirt and she felt her pants being torn off.
The woman, aged 23 at the time, suffered bruising to her arm and a grazed hip during the attack in September 2020.
Welsh's DNA was found on her underwear.
One witness said he spotted a man acting strangely outside a martial arts centre and watched him follow the same path as the woman had taken with her child.
The man looked like Welsh, according to the witness.
Welsh was seen on CCTV leaving a flat in nearby Liberty Road and returning to it shortly after the assault.
Welsh, of Pickerstonhill, Newarthill, claimed he was the victim of mistaken identity.
He didn't know the woman and couldn't explain the presence of his DNA on her underwear.
After the verdict in June sentence was deferred for background reports.
When Welsh returned to court this week, defence agent Ian Scott said he maintains that he is innocent.
Urging Sheriff Martin Jones not to jail him, the solicitor stated: "He has a fairly minimal record - only two minor road traffic matters - and reports say he is not at high risk of re-offending.
"His partner is in the later stages of pregnancy and is standing by him. She and his mother are in court today. He comes from a supportive family.
"My client accepts that this is a significant offence that will have had a significant impact on the victim.
"However, there is a full range of alternatives to custody available."
Passing sentence, Sheriff Jones told Welsh: "This woman did not know you and your attack came out of the blue.
"It's aggravated because your behaviour was violent and in the presence of a young child, resulting in distress for child and mother.
"It was an unprovoked and disgraceful sexual attack.
"Your continued denial in the face of what can only be described as overwhelming evidence of your guilt is worrying."
As well as jaling Welsh, the Sheriff put him on the sex offenders' register for 10 years.
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