A decorator who grabbed a child’s face and kissed her on the lips while dancing at Kent’s largest LGBTQ+ pride festival has avoided jail.

Steven Critcher, 39, forced himself upon the 13-year-old girl, who was unknown to him, during a show at the event in Dane John Gardens, Canterbury.

On Tuesday, Prosecutor Rio Pahlavanpour told the city’s crown court how Critcher’s disturbing actions unfolded on June 8.

“The offence occurred at the Pride event,” he said.

“The defendant danced briefly with a 13-year-old girl; the parties did not know each other.

“He is then said to have held her by her face and kissed her on the lips – a friend of hers witnessed the incident.”

“The defendant was later located in the city centre and arrested.

“What I have to accept is that at no stage was the defendant explicitly told of her age.”

The prosecutor added Critcher, from Canterbury, has eight previous convictions for 16 offences, but none of a sexual nature.

Mitigating, Phil Rowley said Critcher’s offending was related to his alcoholism.

“Drink is not mitigation, but drink is the problem here and the defendant candidly accepts that the incident was borne of his inappropriate use of drink,” said Mr Rowley.

“He is not an unintelligent man; he is a self-employed painter and decorator by trade.

“But he recognises that drink is the demon he must address.

“The defendant is deeply remorseful. He is quite frankly mortified to receive a conviction of this type, deeply embarrassed and mindful of the ramifications on his future life by having a conviction of this sort.”

Critcher attended court wearing a bright blue t-shirt and remained silent throughout the proceedings.

He pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual assault at a previous hearing before Margate magistrates on June 10.

Judge Simon Talyor KC addressed Critcher directly as he handed down his sentence.

“The victim of your crime was a child; you danced with her, you then held her by the face and kissed her on the lips,” he said.

“I have no evidence that this was a particularly lengthy act or that there was any intrusion into the child’s mouth.

“Your victim was particularly vulnerable.

“Whether you knew her age or not, you ought to have known that she was not consenting to you kissing her.”

The court heard Critcher - a self-employed painter and decorator - committed the offence while on licence for a separate offence.

He was remanded in prison in June and made subject to recall.

Critcher was given an eight-month custodial sentence, suspended for 20 months during Tuesday’s hearing, meaning he will be released on September 25.

Over those 20 months, he is to complete 150 hours of unpaid work, an alcohol treatment programme, and the Horizon programme – a psychological intervention course for adult men with sexual convictions.

He will also be subject to a sexual offence notification requirement for 10 years.