Orpington teen sexually assaulted girl in Forest Hill

Brian Jasper Cole, of Meath Close in Orpington, put his hands down the 15-year-old girl’s trousers in an alleyway in Forest Hill back in December 2020. 

When the girl bravely fought back he put her in a headlock while threatening her with a knife. 

She continued to fight until Cole released her and walked out of the alleyway as if nothing happened, a court heard. 

On Friday (May 24) Cole, now aged 19, was given a suspended sentence due to his age at the time of the incident and the time that has passed since the offence. 

Cole had been remanded in prison in relation to other offences but will now be released. 

Brian Jasper Cole (Image: Met Police)

‘Violent sexual assault’ 

Prosecutor Frida Hussain KC told the court that the victim met up with Cole and others in Forest Hill that evening. 

At some point in the night Cole and the 15-year-old victim were left alone. 

He began asking her questions about whether she was a virgin and bragging about his purported sexual experiences. 

She told him she didn’t want to speak about such things, but Cole then dragged her into a nearby alleyway by the hair, Ms Hussain alleged. 

Ms Hussain alleged that Cole asked the girl to give him oral sex because it was his birthday, but she refused. 

He then put his hand down the back of her trousers and touched her bum. 

When she bravely fought back he pulled out a knife and threatened her with it, before grabbing her in a headlock while brandishing the knife. 

The victim told police about the incident around six months later, but she later withdrew her support for the prosecution as she did not feel supported by the police, the court heard. 

But in 2023 she was approached by a new officer because Cole had been arrested in relation to the rape of another woman. 

In that incident it was alleged that Cole and a friend had raped a woman in their car, but the case went to trial and Cole was found not guilty. 

In relation to the Forest Hill sexual assault, Cole was found guilty of sexual assault and threatening a person with a blade. 

He was cleared of two more counts of sexual assault and one count of assault. 

'I’m still living the same nightmare’'

An impact statement from the victim was read in court by prosecutor Ms Hussain. 

“I have often had sleepless nights when the incident had first occurred,” she said. 

“I am in constant fear that it will happen again. I always live in fear that I will see him again while I’m on my way to work.” 

The victim said she feels like the incident has ruined her social life because she doesn’t want to go out any more. 

She now isolates herself and struggles to trust people. 

“Four years on since this happened and I feel that I’m living the same nightmare,” she said. 

'You are not young any more, you are a grown man’ 

Judge Jonathan Mann KC, sentencing Cole at Woolwich Crown Court, said: “This isn’t the first time I’ve had to sentence you and I’m going to make this observation. 

“You seem to continually scrape very close to committing very serious offences. You are not young any more. You are a grown man. 

“So far I have knowledge of your involvement in an incident where shots were fired, not by you. You were carrying a firearm. Because police couldn’t find it they couldn’t prove it was real. 

“There’s also this sexual assault and a rape for which you were acquitted. It suggests a very dangerous pattern in which you thought you could do whatever you want and get away with it.” 

Cole has spent 14 months in custody for other offences. 

Judge Mann said: “I hope that your time in prison has shown you that if you don’t change you will do something that puts you in prison for a very long time.” 

Judge Mann sentenced Cole to 15 months in custody, suspended for two years, meaning he will be released from prison immediately. 

Cole will be required to complete a programme requirement, rehabilitation activity and 80 hours of unpaid work. 

“In case anyone is wondering why I’m passing this sentence, it is because the offence is old, his age at the time of the offence and that he has no history of similar offending,” Judge Mann said. 

“I must direct my mind towards rehabilitation, given he has spent so much time in custody, he is going to have to settle back in the community.”