A bored pensioner who stalked a Chester schoolgirl for nearly two years dubbed himself ‘the virgin’s friend’.

John Chaddock’s victim was just 14-years-old when he launched his disturbing campaign of harassment in December 2013, after spotting her and her friends in McDonalds on Foregate Street and asking whether she was ‘a good girl or a naughty girl’.

The married man, who is now 70, soon became ‘infatuated’ with the teenager and approached her on numerous occasions over the following weeks and months, Warrington Crown Court heard today (November 22).

On another occasion in McDonalds in August 2015, he went up to her and gave her £5 after overhearing her say that she was skint.

Lewd comments

Chaddock, of Merton Drive in Lache, lavished compliments upon the group of girls and introduced himself as ‘the virgin’s friend’ because his friends told him he was ‘gentle in bed’.

He proceeded to suggest his victim’s nickname should be ‘YGS’, which stands for ‘Young, Gorgeous and Sexy’, and revealed that he had seen her and her friends’ skirts blow up in the wind.

Some weeks later, he approached her when she was alone on Foregate Street and offered to buy her cigarettes, which she took up.

But he placed the packet inside her blouse and touched her stomach.

She recalled that he offered to have sex with her in a way that she would not see his face.

Chaddock even went to the girl’s place of work after she let slip which Chester pub she was employed at during an earlier conversation, and left her a letter containing a £5 note.

Events finally reached boiling point on November 11 last year, when he handed her a letter as she got off a bus in the city centre.

In it, he wrote: “Two months ago, I was going further and further and taking things to the limit after lunchtimes of heavy drinking.

“I am behaving myself these days and would like to buy you a Christmas present to make amends.”

Chaddock told his victim that he had stopped drinking and was able to save £50 per week, ‘thanks to her’.

He invited her to meet him for a coffee so he could give her the cash for a present.

The teenager was so upset by the encounter that she finally told her parents, who reported Chaddock’s behaviour to the police.

Sentence

Chaddock, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to stalking and was handed a 12-month community order with a rehabilitation activity requirement during today’s hearing.

His barrister Mark Le Brocq told the court that ‘boredom’ seems to have been the trigger for the offending, as he had retired but his wife had not.

“He took to filling his time by meeting his wife after work, but drinking too much beforehand – three or four pints at lunchtime,” said Mr Le Brocq.

“But he is now addressing that.”

Judge Tina Landale granted a restraining order prohibiting Chaddock from contacting the victim and two of her friends, and from unsupervised contact with any female under the age of 16, and ordered him to pay £500 in costs.

'Totally inappropriate'

Sentencing him, Judge Landale said: “You became infatuated with this young woman.

“You harassed her on a number of occasions and became preoccupied with her in a totally inappropriate way.

“With hindsight and sobriety, you recognise that you should not have done it.

“But you must understand that the court will not tolerate this kind of behaviour. You may have excused it as a kind of banter but that is outdated and wholly wrong.”

Victim's family speaks

Speaking to The Chronicle after the hearing, the victim’s father praised her courage for coming forward but revealed that she still worries about going into Chester and now avoids areas where Chaddock used to approach her.

He said: “We are happy that she was brave enough to come forward and hope that what she has done helps to protect other girls in Chester.”

He added that he and his family were a little disappointed by the sentence imposed on Chaddock, but respected the judge’s decision.