A man who sexually molested a woman on a North Yorkshire beach and carried out a "disgusting act" on a dog has been jailed.

Curtis Petch, 27, also throttled a young girl during the incident this Spring, York Crown Court heard.

Rob Galley, prosecuting, said Petch appeared dishevelled and intoxicated and was drinking from a vodka bottle.

Petch, of Hamel Rose, Hemsworth, was convicted at a trial by York magistrates of sexual assault, outraging public decency by his behaviour with the dog, and pleaded guilty on the day of his trial to assaulting the child and threatening words and behaviour to a man who tried to stop his actions.

He was also convicted at a separate trial of breaching a restraining order by being with a woman the order was designed to protect. Magistrates decided he should be sentenced by a crown court judge and remanded him in custody.

He refused to come out of his prison cell and was sentenced in his absence to 17 months’ imprisonment including 26 weeks' previously suspended.

He was put on the sex offenders' register for seven years and banned from working with children or vulnerable adults.

Judge Simon Hickey said the offence involving the dog “was clearly a disgusting and worrying act, seen by a number of people".

Mr Galley said Petch was given a 26-week suspended prison sentence at the start of April. At about 3pm, he was wandering around the Scarborough beach dropping £10 notes as he did so.

When a woman on the beach, tried to help him by picking up a couple of his banknotes and returning them to him, he called her “beautiful”, lay down next to her and sexually assaulted her.

He claimed he knew where they could buy drugs and after another woman intervened, turned his attention to the victim’s dog. The women objected and he left and started talking about buying children in the area doughnuts.

He throttled a seven-year-old child until she was struggling for breath and tried to punch a man who punched back. Petch fell sideways into the sand and appeared to be drunk.

In a personal statement the victim of the sexual assault said the incident had upset her badly and had affected her psychologically.

Judge Hickey said the man followed Petch off the beach and the defendant was surrounded by police near some railings and arrested.

Defence barrister Marc Luxford was unable to give any mitigation because Petch had not given him any instructions.