Current Events > SHY and AWKWARD student TOUCHES girl's arm and side and could now go to JAIL!!

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7557947/Shy-awkward-student-19-faces-JAIL-sex-assault-conviction.html

- Student Jamie Griffiths, 19, searched 'how to make a friend' on the internet
- He attempted to talk to a 17-year-old girl as she walked to and from college
- She told court his contact had hindered her application to Oxford University
- Durham University undergraduate was convicted of 2 charges of sexual assault
- Griffiths said he was 'very anxious' and signed up to social media to make friends

A 'shy and awkward' student is facing jail after he touched a teenager 'in an attempt to befriend her.'

Jamie Griffiths, 19, Googled 'how to make a friend' then came into contact with the 17-year-old during two attempts to engage her in conversation.

The victim burst into tears during the second encounter and went to police with her mother, claiming Griffiths 'would have touched her breast had she not moved away'.

She claimed her school work suffered as a result of the contact, leaving her unable to sit her mock exams and apply to Oxford University.

Griffiths, who lives with his parents and now studies at Durham University, denied two charges of sexual assault, claiming he was 'shy, anxious and awkward'.

He said he had 'clumsily' approached the girl in an attempt 'to make a friend but the words didn't come out.'

Griffiths was convicted at Manchester Magistrates' Court and will be sentenced later this month. The offence carries a maximum sentence of ten years jail if dealt with at a crown court and he faces being ordered to sign the Sex Offender Register.

The incidents occurred between October and November last year while the pair were studying A levels at a secondary school in Knutsford, the court heard.

The girl, now 18, said she had been walking home when she encountered Griffiths on a railway bridge.

She told the hearing: 'I saw him facing a hedge and I thought it was really weird. As I walked towards him, he suddenly swung round so he was facing me.

'As soon as he moved I moved and said: 'stop' and he touched my arm. I sort of jolted out of the way and went into the road to avoid him and he very quickly walked away.

'I think it would have been on my breast had I not moved. When it first happened I didn't think much of it. I forgot about it because I had my exams and just thought it was weird behaviour.'

She said she encountered Griffiths a second time: 'He suddenly moved to walk in front of me, looked me straight in the eye, touched me on my side and walked off.

'It was quite a while - three to five seconds. He smirked at me, he didn't stop he just touched me and walked off and I broke down crying - it was quite traumatic.

'I struggled for a couple of months afterwards, I was applying for Oxford at the time and I found going to Oxford a stressful thing.

'It just makes everything a little bit scarier - if there is a guy walking towards me by himself I start to panic. It was more shocking that someone thought they had the right to touch me as I walked down the street.'

Griffiths, who had been volunteering at a Barnado's charity shop, told the hearing: 'My intention was to make a friend. All my friends had left so I was lonely I just wanted to speak to someone.

'She was walking towards me and I recognised her and I knew that she was a student at the school, I didn't say anything but I really wanted to - the words just didn't come out. I touched her but I believed that it was the arm I was touching.

'I smiled at her, I was just trying to be friendly. I tried to get her attention and she ignored me. Touching someone's arm to get their attention I would have thought was normal. I was looking for a friend.'

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Checks out, throw the sucker in and throwaway the key.
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Sociopaths will defend this.

Came in expecting Japan.
Didn't get Japan. I'm surprised.

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The victim burst into tears during the second encounter and went to police with her mother, claiming Griffiths 'would have touched her breast had she not moved away'.

Get the fuck outta here.
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Just wait until his mum sends him a howler...
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Christ do I really live in this world?
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We are so utterly fucked if this is the future...
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Sorry to my UK friends but your guys Justice system is a fucking mess. What a disgrace.
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Which CEman is this?
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I might have been inclined to write this off as mere shyness and awkwardness if there had been only one incident. At the very least, it wouldn't have been easy to distinguish from such.

But the second incident changes everything. He knew what he was doing then. Throw the book at the incel.
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I'm inclined to take the guy's side and say the girl misunderstood. I have similar issues as him. I never got to this level of awkward but I do know what it's like to accidentally scare people. one time I was walking at night down the road and a girl was up ahead alone. and I didn't want to spook her by walking past her from behind in the shadows. so I slowed down and just let her walk ahead and make up more space between us. but then she turned around and saw me, and then ran across the street.

Sounds like she was super stressed out about the tests and didn't want to upset her parents about not getting into Oxford
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Something about this story is fucky
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Lol this could have been me 5 years ago
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Zikten posted...

I'm inclined to take the guy's side and say the girl misunderstood. I have similar issues as him. I never got to this level of awkward but I do know what it's like to accidentally scare people. one time I was walking at night down the road and a girl was up ahead alone. and I didn't want to spook her by walking past her from behind in the shadows. so I slowed down and just let her walk ahead and make up more space between us. but then she turned around and saw me, and then ran across the street.

There's no winning here lol. Either you are walking slowly behind her with a distance and you appear to be following her. If you walk a bit faster to match her pace you'll be following more closely behind and that's even more awkward. Speed walk to pass her? Might scare her more initially. Don't know wtf you're supposed to do other than cross the street yourself.

Anyway, fear mongering seems to have had its intended purpose now that most women believe the entire world is out to rape them.
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This is how incels are created.
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This is why I avoid women all together.

The only way to be sure you will never make a girl uncomfortable is to never ever engage with them.
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Guy sounds like a weirdo and even if the first time was because he got too nervous, if he's somehow too nervous to talk but can touch somebody? I'm not buying that story happening with the same girl a second time.
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gunplagirl posted...

Guy sounds like a weirdo and even if the first time was because he got too nervous, if he's somehow too nervous to talk but can touch somebody? I'm not buying that story happening with the same girl a second time.

maybe the second time his goal was to apologize for last time. and then he fucked up again

That isn't sexual assault.

The guy has problems, but I don't see how prison is supposed to help him resolve that. Make him do community service and send him to a sensitivity program.
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I dont think he deserves jail time, a restraining order would suffice

Not enough info is given. Is he autistic, I wonder?
I think they're possibly both in the wrong, depending on his mental health.
He shouldn't continue to harass them if they show fear and disinterest. Especially shouldn't just randomly touch people that he doesn't know. I'm interested to know why he picked her specifically.
She should probably lighten up (calling it sexual assault is bs).
Sounds like a legitimate misunderstanding that has been blown up into the legal realm and might ruin a life in the process..
Also though, looks like there was no witnesses, eh?
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BigDD67 posted...

Christ do I really live in this world?

Aww cmon if he was 3inches taller with a more chiseled jawline she would gone home with him and its the story how mom met dad I hate how every interaction is now considered rape nowadays
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trappedunderice posted...

The victim burst into tears during the second encounter and went to police with her mother, claiming Griffiths 'would have touched her breast had she not moved away'.

Get the fuck outta here.

If anything, it sounds like she's the one with some sort of mentality problem lol.
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Some of the comments here don't surprise me at all.

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https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/400-current-events/78078944
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Jamie Griffiths, 19, Googled 'how to make a friend' then came into contact with the 17-year-old during two attempts to engage her in conversation.

If they have this his search history and found this, I see no reason not to believe him.

I am tempted to contact the prosecutor to make sure she understands she's going hard on a socially awkward kid, a product of this new generation of lonely kids whose sole interaction for human companionship is through twitch and Youtube.
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Ultima Dragon posted...

Zikten posted...

I'm inclined to take the guy's side and say the girl misunderstood. I have similar issues as him. I never got to this level of awkward but I do know what it's like to accidentally scare people. one time I was walking at night down the road and a girl was up ahead alone. and I didn't want to spook her by walking past her from behind in the shadows. so I slowed down and just let her walk ahead and make up more space between us. but then she turned around and saw me, and then ran across the street.

There's no winning here lol. Either you are walking slowly behind her with a distance and you appear to be following her. If you walk a bit faster to match her pace you'll be following more closely behind and that's even more awkward. Speed walk to pass her? Might scare her more initially. Don't know wtf you're supposed to do other than cross the street yourself.

Anyway, fear mongering seems to have had its intended purpose now that most women believe the entire world is out to rape them.

agreed. women are rarely raped and sexually assault. its just fear mongering. that's the only reason they are scared.

Zikten posted...

gunplagirl posted...

Guy sounds like a weirdo and even if the first time was because he got too nervous, if he's somehow too nervous to talk but can touch somebody? I'm not buying that story happening with the same girl a second time.

maybe the second time his goal was to apologize for last time. and then he fucked up again

Irrelevant. She told him to go away. He didn't go away.
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irrelevant. not going away isn't worth 10 years

Zikten posted...

irrelevant. not going away isn't worth 10 years

He's unlikely to get ten years, but when you do something indistinguishable from stalking, you deserve a a bit of a jolt back onto the right path.
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Ultima Dragon posted...

Anyway, fear mongering seems to have had its intended purpose now that most women believe the entire world is out to rape them.

The guy just ambushes this girl and starts touching her.. but no she is just a product of fear mongering? Really? She should've just be fine with this sort of behavior?
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it's possible they both had mistakes and/or misunderstandings. it doesn't have to be black and white.

Zikten posted...

it's possible they both had mistakes and/or misunderstandings. it doesn't have to be black and white.

Dont ambush girls and start touching them. Pretty sure those are great steps to avoid any sort of misunderstandings.

That is pretty black and white to me.
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his intentions may not have been evil

Zikten posted...

his intentions may not have been evil

That will never be an acceptable excuse to allow someone to do that to someone else.
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Dampproof posted...

Zikten posted...

his intentions may not have been evil

That will never be an acceptable excuse to allow someone to do that to someone else.

you are not getting what I am saying. he may not have meant to hurt her, and it was an awkward misunderstanding. we don't need to put people in prison just cause they are awkward

he's gonna be worse after he gets out. prison hardens people. they are going to turn an innocent awkward guy into a hardcore and angry criminal

claiming Griffiths 'would have touched her breast had she not moved away'.

She claimed her school work suffered as a result of the contact, leaving her unable to sit her mock exams and apply to Oxford University.

I call BS on all of this.
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Zikten posted...

you are not getting what I am saying. he may not have meant to hurt her,

You are not getting what I am saying. It doesn't matter that you think he "may not have meant to hurt her" because there is no way anyone in their right mind should allow themselves to put in that situation and just accept it

The very notion that people have to guess if this random person who just ambushed me, starts grabbing at me, offers no explanation and smiles while doing it means me harm or no harm is beyond ridiculous.

This person admitted to having friends before so it isn't like this is completely alien to him. Having searched "How to make friends" doesnt excuse this at all. No guide will ever suggest this sort of behavior.
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Dampproof posted...

You are not getting what I am saying. It doesn't matter that you think he "may not have meant to hurt her" because there is no way anyone in their right mind should allow themselves to put in that situation and just accept it

The very notion that people have to guess if this random person who just ambushed me, starts grabbing at me, offers no explanation and smiles while doing it means me harm or no harm is beyond ridiculous.

This person admitted to having friends before so it isn't like this is completely alien to him. Having searched "How to make friends" doesnt excuse this at all. No guide will ever suggest this sort of behavior.

Well said.

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no. you are wrong. just cause she got scared doesn't mean he has to go to prison. I am not excusing that he frightened her. I am saying he didn't mean to. and you are being vindictive. you just want to punish. over a mistake. you must not be awkward or autistic or shy or anything like that. you would never understand. I can sympathize with this guy

oh and btw, having friends is not the same as making a friend. I'll tell you something. I am 38 years old and I have no friends anymore. but as a kid I did. however...I never made a friend on my own ever. it was always the other person approaching me and seeking friendship. I don't know how to make friends just like this guy

His punishment is complete overkill and he shouldn't go to prison for this. Community service or something would be enough to suffice.

But lol at people trying to downplay his actions and acting like the girl is the one overreacting. What she did is perfectly understandable.

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Zikten posted...

no. you are wrong. just cause she got scared doesn't mean he has to go to prison. I am not excusing that he frightened her. I am saying he didn't mean to.

He isn't going to prison because she got scared. Her life got turned upside down because she got scared.

He is going to prison because he attacked someone.

You're all for understanding this guys side. But you just completely ignore what this did to his victim. How about you do that for a moment and imagine being attacked randomly not once but twice by the same person. Not knowing if this guy has been stalking you. Not knowing if you're about to get raped, murdered or beaten up.

Oh he just grabbed her arm. Oh he didn't mean to hurt her. She didn't make a big deal of it either the first time it happened. But he did it again. She forgave him the first time, but when the second time alters the situation entirely. How could she not think this was going to keep happening? How could she not think this was going to escalate?

and you are being vindictive. you just want to punish. over a mistake. you must not be awkward or autistic or shy or anything like that. you would never understand. I can sympathize with this guy

Once is a mistake. Doing it again is not a mistake.
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