A HOODED teenager who groped a woman near a Burnley primary school walked free from court.

The town’s crown court heard John Kenney, 19, accosted the vulnerable woman in broad daylight in February.

He did not speak to the victim, but walked up to her, reached out with both hands and indecently touched her.

Magistrates convicted Kenney of sexual assault, and committed him to the crown court for sentence.

Recorder Neil Flewitt, QC, told him his actions had been unacceptable and the victim must have suffered an ‘absolutely terrifying ordeal’.

The defendant was given 26 weeks at a young offenders’ institution, suspended for two years, with supervision and must pay £200 compensation.

He was placed on the sex offenders’ register for seven years.

For Kenney, Richard Taylor said in interview he denied touching the woman sexually and said it was a ‘laugh’, to frighten her, to make her jump.