Man jailed for 14 sexual assaults

A 56-year-old man has been jailed after admitting to sexually assaulting six people over a 11-year period.

Nigel Frith, of Woolavington, pleaded guilty to 14 counts of sexual assault by touching against four children and two adults.

He was sentenced at Taunton Crown Court, sitting at North Somerset Magistrates’ Court, to a prison sentence of 34 months.

The court was told about Frith’s offending, which spanned 11 years between 2012 and 2023, and how he would touch, kiss, and make sexual suggestions towards children as young as 10 through to adults in their 20s and 30s.

Each victim wrote a personal statement which was read out at the sentencing hearing on Wednesday 30 April.

One victim wrote: “When this happened, I was a child. I didn’t know what sexual assault was.

“When I saw [Frith], I felt uncomfortable. I saw him once outside a local shop working, he looked so unaffected by everything that had happened with me. I was frustrated he didn’t seem to understand the impact of his actions, and yet I was having to change my life to avoid feeling on edge.”

Another said: “When I think back to what happened, I feel angry. Angry at the thought he could do that and think he could do it again and get away with it.

“At the time, I shrugged it off. I remember he didn’t seem bothered by what he was doing. Even when I called him out, he shrugged it off.

“I was shocked and confused that he had done this to me. I found it incredibly invasive that he would do this to anyone.”

A third victim said: “It used to make me feel violated when I saw you. I felt that you were invading my personal space… your presence made me feel uncomfortable.

“There were so many emotions at once, it was overwhelming. I would make any excuse just to get away as quickly as possible.

“The past few months have been really difficult for me. I used to feel I had let myself down, even though it wasn’t my fault.”

Alongside his jail sentence, Frith was also handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order, a restraining order and added to the sex offenders’ register.

Investigating officer, DC Martyn Jackson, said: “I have to commend the strength of the victims in coming forward about these horrendous crimes.

“Frith’s actions are disgraceful and left his victims feeling degraded and violated. The way he touched these girls and women, invaded their personal space and made them feel angry and terrified, is unacceptable.

“His pattern of offending shows there was thought to his actions. He knew the impact he was having on these women and girls and he violated them in a place where they should feel safe.”