A man who intruded on a woman’s privacy in Hamilton has been sentenced to one year in prison.

Eric Richardson, 32, from Warwick, admitted the offence when he appeared in Magistrates’ Court.

The court heard that in April, Richardson shouted at the woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, from across the street and moved closer to her when she ignored him.

She continued to move away from Richardson and ended up against a wall before he moved into her personal space, grabbed his private area and made a sexual comment.

Susan Mulligan, Richardson’s lawyer, highlighted her client’s mental health and addiction challenges and requested he spend six months behind bars for the offences.

She told the court: “If he was aware of what he was doing [when the offence occurred], a harsher sentence would be appropriate.”

Richardson also admitted ignoring written instructions by trespassing on the property of Lindo’s Family Foods twice last month.

Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo sentenced Richardson to 12 months behind bars for the intrusion of privacy and two months for each count of trespassing. He ordered all three sentences run concurrently.

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