Man jailed for sexually assaulting child in Portsmouth supermarket and threatening to stab police officer

Surajit Ghosh, aged 27, appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court for sentencing today (Thursday 20 June).

Police had received a report on the evening of Saturday, May 272023 of an unknown man touching an 8-year-old girl’s bottom in Tesco on Crasswell Street, before running off down another aisle. The man was then chased through the supermarket by a family member of the girl, before the man ran out of the store. Police attended and conducted an area search, before making enquiries with witnesses at the supermarket and reviewing CCTV.

Ghosh was quickly identified to be the man responsible, and officers turned up at his home address in Drummond Road that night to arrest him. He was found inside hiding behind a sofa, before he became aggressive – threatening to stab officers and resisting arrest. He also dug his fingernails into a police officer’s hand, drawing blood.

Following enquiries, Ghosh was charged with sexual assault of a girl under 13 by touching and assault of an emergency worker, both of which he pleaded guilty to at Portsmouth Crown Court on October 2 2023. On 15 April this year, he also pleaded guilty to a separate charge of perverting the course of justice. Ghosh had contacted the mother of the girl he sexually assaulted and asked her to drop the charges against him - he did this despite having already pleaded guilty to the sexual assault.

Appearing at Portsmouth Crown Court today, he was jailed for 18 months. He was also ordered to sign on to the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years, handed a 10 year Sexual Harm Prevention Order, and a 10 year Restraining Order.