A man who sexually assaulted a girl at Skipton Railway Station and left his 17-year-old victim severely traumatised has been jailed for two years.

Wayne Eccleston, 34, pushed his hand up the teenager's skirt as she sat on a bench on Platform One and made an 'appalling' threat of obscene violence, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Eccleston, who was drunk, targeted the girl in broad daylight when she was alone, said prosecutor Mark Brookes.

He pleaded guilty at Skipton Magistrates Court to sexual assault on April 26.

Eccleston jumped bail and failed to attend for his sentencing hearing at the crown court last month. A warrant not backed for bail was issued and he was held in custody until the sentencing hearing.

Eccleston, of Delaney Court, Settle, showed no emotion as he was led to the cells.

He was not legally represented and told the judge, Recorder Ben Nolan QC, he had nothing to say about the offence or its effect on his victim.

Recorder Nolan ordered Eccleston to sign on the sex offender register for an indefinite period and he made a restraining order banning him from approaching or contacting the girl.

Recorder Nolan said: "You made an appalling expression of a threat of violence to her."

In her victim personal statement, the girl said she had been left severely traumatised and a changed person after the assault.

She suffered panic attacks and had taken to wearing baggy clothes in place of her usual skirts.

She saw everyone as a threat and had sought counselling at school. Her panic attacks left her paralysed with fear, unable to breathe and feeling like she was going to die.

Recorder Nolan told Eccleston: "You targeted a vulnerable victim at a railway station where the travelling public are entitled to feel safe."

Eccleston had a poor record but had not committed any offence in the last eight years.

He had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, the judge said.