A Harrogate man has been jailed for sexually assaulting a young woman while he was high on drink or drugs.

Tobias Harvey-Light, 31, attacked the victim at a flat in Northallerton as she tried desperately to fend him off and escape, York Crown Court heard.

The victim, who eventually managed to get away, reported the matter to police and Harvey-Light was arrested.

Prosecutor Harry Crowson said the incident occurred in 2024 when Harvey-Light grabbed the victim by the shoulder, pushed her against a wall and told her: “Don’t leave.”

He kissed her as she tried to get him off, then moved her away from the wall and sexually assaulted her.

“She was continually telling him to stop,” said Mr Crowson.

Harvey-Light then tried to lift the victim, but she pushed him off as he was picking her up. She tried to escape but because she had never been in the flat before, she didn’t know the lay-out of the apartment and “panicked”.

“She didn’t get out and ended up in a different room,” said Mr Crowson.

She found herself in a bathroom where, as Harvey-Light was standing before her, she sent out a text message saying: “Help.”

Still trying to escape, she then found herself in a bedroom where Harvey-Light pushed or pressed her against a bed as she kept “crying out to get off her” in the hope that someone would hear her.

This time, she finally managed to escape and reported Harvey-Light to police. He was brought in for questioning but initially denied the offences.

DNA on trousers

A forensic swab on the victim’s trousers showed that Harvey-Light’s DNA was on the waistband and he was duly charged with two counts of sexual assault.

He ultimately admitted the offences and appeared for sentence today (August 4) after being released on bail.

The victim - who wasn’t in a relationship with Harvey-Light and can’t be named for legal reasons - told the court that her dreadful ordeal had “affected every part of her life”.

Her mental health had deteriorated and she felt “completely overwhelmed and hopeless”.

Harvey-Light’s solicitor Neil Cutte said his client had never been in trouble before, but this was a “very bad case”.

He said that Harvey-Light, of Durham Way, Killinghall Moor, had a stable family background but at the time of the offences he had become addicted to cocaine and alcohol “which may well have played a part (in the offences)”.

He said at the time of the incident in 2024, it “wasn’t unusual” for Harvey-Light to drink up to a litre of vodka and consume more than a gramme of cocaine a day.

“The alcohol appears not to be an issue any longer, but he accepts he is still struggling to completely desist from cocaine, although it’s nowhere near as bad as it was at the time of these offences,” added Mr Cutte.

'Profound' effect

Harvey-Light had since lost his job and was now unemployed.

Judge Simon Hickey said the effect on the victim had been profound and her “heartache” had been compounded by the delay in the case reaching court.

He said it was clear that at the time of the sexual attacks, Harvey-Light was “either under the influence of cocaine or drink, perhaps both”.

He said although Harvey-Light was an otherwise “industrious” man and had no previous convictions, the fact that he had “attacked a young female in the persistent way you did” meant that “only an immediate custodial sentence can meet the justice of the case”.

Harvey-Light was jailed for 16 months and ordered to sign on the sex-offenders’ register for 10 years.