Moment hero bystanders stop OAP, 72, who dragged schoolgirl, 12, off bike and sexually assaulted her

This footage shows the moment hero bystanders stopped a man who dragged a 12-year-old girl off her bike and attacked her, The Sun reported

The girl was pulled off her bike and pinned down by John Potts, then 71, in 2017. He pulled her trousers down and then repeatedly sexually assaulted her.

Potts, who has dementia and a brain injury, was only stopped by people passing the scene as a woman noticed a "scuffle" in the bushes as she drove by.

She was so concerned she turned her car round and went to help the stricken girl.

As she did so, a group of men gathered and filmed Potts, while making sure he could not leave the scene until police arrived.

The video circulated on Facebook at the time, with the man filming it, who then thought the girl was 14, saying he was going to report the pensioner to police.

Hull Crown Court also heard others told Potts at the scene: "You're getting buried. I'm ringing the police to come and arrest you."

He replied: "I don't care about the police. The police can come and arrest me."

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Another man told him: “You're dead, you're dead. She's a 12-year-old girl.”

John Potts was confronted by a group of men who then filmed him

The girl had been on her way to a friend's or relatives when she was grabbed by Potts.

She told cops: "He forced me to go with him. He was dragging my bike."

Describing part of the assault, she said: "I tried to stop him but he went on with it."

The jury was told that a mix of forensic evidence was found in her underwear, and it was "a billion times more likely to be from him and her rather than her and an unrelated [to the case] person".

In distressing evidence, the girl later told police he was "itching his bum and put his hand over my mouth and it had p* on it. It was on his fingers and it smelt of dog s*".

The OAP dragged the schoolgirl into a bush and then assaulted her

In the video, pixellated in an appeal after the attack last year, Potts could be seen with a walking stick with a bike nearby.

Potts was flanked by three nurses when he appeared for sentencing at Hull Crown Court on Friday.

He was not fit to stand trial and was detained under the Mental Health Act, with a jury finding he committed three of four alleged acts – two sexual assaults of a child under 13 and inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

Judge Paul Watson QC said: "As you were under a disability when you committed the acts, you have been deemed not fit to plead and I've now had to consider what to do with the limited options that I have before me.

"After hearing the live evidence of doctors and reading the information they have provided me with, I believe that you suffer from a mental disorder of such a degree that you need to be detained in a secure hospital under section 37 of the Mental Health Act.

"In regard to the nature and potential of further offending if you were to be set at large as your condition is likely irreversible, I'm also putting a section 41 restriction in place in order to protect the public.

"You will now be taken back to hospital and detained unless or until the Home Office see it fit that you be released."

Via The Sun

My view: This is disgusting, dirty old man. I think the evil man needs to be properly checked if he really has dementia, as that didn't stopped him from his brutal act. People suffering from dementia don't drag young girls into bushes and sexually attack them, they are usually confused and they forget things a lot. But this old calculated rag knew exactly what he wanted from the innocent girl. This man maybe be using dementia as an excuse to get free pass from jail.

Moment hero bystanders stop OAP, 72, who dragged schoolgirl, 12, off bike and sexually assaulted her

This footage shows the moment hero bystanders stopped a man who dragged a 12-year-old girl off her bike and attacked her, The Sun reported

The girl was pulled off her bike and pinned down by John Potts, then 71, in 2017. He pulled her trousers down and then repeatedly sexually assaulted her.

Potts, who has dementia and a brain injury, was only stopped by people passing the scene as a woman noticed a "scuffle" in the bushes as she drove by.

She was so concerned she turned her car round and went to help the stricken girl.

As she did so, a group of men gathered and filmed Potts, while making sure he could not leave the scene until police arrived.

The video circulated on Facebook at the time, with the man filming it, who then thought the girl was 14, saying he was going to report the pensioner to police.

Hull Crown Court also heard others told Potts at the scene: "You're getting buried. I'm ringing the police to come and arrest you."

He replied: "I don't care about the police. The police can come and arrest me."

Scroll down for video

Another man told him: “You're dead, you're dead. She's a 12-year-old girl.”

John Potts was confronted by a group of men who then filmed him

The girl had been on her way to a friend's or relatives when she was grabbed by Potts.

She told cops: "He forced me to go with him. He was dragging my bike."

Describing part of the assault, she said: "I tried to stop him but he went on with it."

The jury was told that a mix of forensic evidence was found in her underwear, and it was "a billion times more likely to be from him and her rather than her and an unrelated [to the case] person".

In distressing evidence, the girl later told police he was "itching his bum and put his hand over my mouth and it had p*** on it. It was on his fingers and it smelt of dog s***".

The OAP dragged the schoolgirl into a bush and then assaulted her

In the video, pixellated in an appeal after the attack last year, Potts could be seen with a walking stick with a bike nearby.

Potts was flanked by three nurses when he appeared for sentencing at Hull Crown Court on Friday.

He was not fit to stand trial and was detained under the Mental Health Act, with a jury finding he committed three of four alleged acts – two sexual assaults of a child under 13 and inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

Judge Paul Watson QC said: "As you were under a disability when you committed the acts, you have been deemed not fit to plead and I've now had to consider what to do with the limited options that I have before me.

"After hearing the live evidence of doctors and reading the information they have provided me with, I believe that you suffer from a mental disorder of such a degree that you need to be detained in a secure hospital under section 37 of the Mental Health Act.

"In regard to the nature and potential of further offending if you were to be set at large as your condition is likely irreversible, I'm also putting a section 41 restriction in place in order to protect the public.

"You will now be taken back to hospital and detained unless or until the Home Office see it fit that you be released."

In distressing evidence, the girl later told police he was "itching his bum and put his hand over my mouth and it had p* on it. It was on his fingers and it smelt of dog s*".