A MAN was spared jail yesterday after he touched a teenager's knee on a bus.
John Halligan, 35, approached the girl as she was travelling home from college.
Seeing she was upset, he took the opportunity to stroke her knee, which left her terrified.
Newcastle Crown Court heard the incident happened as the 15-year-old was going home on April 10. Halligan approached her and asked her what she was doing at college.
John Wilkinson, prosecuting, said: "The defendant accepts there was inappropriate touching in terms of touching her knee."
Paul Sloan, mitigating, told the court there was no suggestion of indecency but the touching might have been inappropriate. Halligan of Fern Grove, Hedworth Estate, Jarrow, admitted common assault and was conditionally discharged for 12 months.
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