Thomas Chamberlain, 42, of Rue au Page, St Saviour’s, had denied the offence but was found guilty at trial.
The court found that he had cupped one of the woman’s breasts, and touched her bottom and attempted to lift her skirt more than once. CCTV footage of the incident from the club had been shown at the trial.
In a victim impact statement that was read to the court, the woman said she no longer felt confident or happy day to day, and feared seeing the defendant again.
Defending, Advocate Peter Ferbrache said his client regretted the incident and wished to apologise to the victim. Prior to it he had been an upstanding and exceptional citizen. The consequences of this had been catastrophic for him. He lost his good reputation and his job following his arrest in August, and was currently unemployed.
The offending had taken place over a period of about 30 minutes when his client had clearly had too much to drink and he had abstained from abusing alcohol since. He had been unwell in the run-up to this incident for which he should have sought help.
Counsel submitted numerous character references to the court on his client’s behalf.
Judge Gary Perry said he did not doubt that the references were accurate.
‘But none of those submitting them saw you in the nightclub on the night in question and your despicable behaviour,’ he said.
‘Anyone who watched the CCTV from the club and did not believe that you committed this offence must be deluding themselves.’
The probation report showed he had little insight as to the effect that his offending had had on the victim and it had been focused on himself.
The evidence against him had been clear and overwhelming yet he had still chosen to contest it and forced the victim to give evidence and be cross-examined in court.
This type of offence happened all too frequently and were committed by men against women who were only going in to town to enjoy themselves, said the judge.
It was only the effect it would have on his family that had prevented Chamberlain from going straight to prison, he added, as he sentenced him to 100 hours’ community service as a direct alternative to three months in prison. Notification requirements were imposed for three years.