Laughing pervert prowled streets looking for victims

POLICE THANK WOMEN ATTACKED BY PREDATOR FOR BRAVERY AS HE'S JAILED FOR FOUR-AND-A-HALF YEARS

- KIT ROBERTS

A 'LAUGHING' pervert who prowled the streets beneath Mancunian Way for years has been jailed.Robert Emmerson attacked students and schoolgirls by grabbing them from behind in a 'bear hug', before he pinned them down to the ground and groped them. The 40-year-old also exposed himself to young women and girls who had been on their way to classes. Victims told how Emmerson had 'smiled' and 'laughed' as he carried out the attacks, all but two of which happened in an underpass on the Mancunian Way.

Yesterday, he was jailed for targeting 11 women and girls in a string of offending between November 2023 and April 2024.

The court heard how Emmerson had violently grabbed or pushed the women, rubbed himself on them, and touched them inappropriately over their clothes.

Despite overwhelming evidence against him following an investigation by Greater Manchester Police, Emmerson, formerly of Lancaster Court, Manchester, pleaded not guilty and forced victims to relive their trauma in a trial.

A jury subsequently found him unanimously guilty of five counts of sexual assault and seven counts of indecent exposure, including to underage girls.