Chef who pulled down teenager's trousers in pub ends up on sex offenders' register

'It was banter,' perpetrator tells court

Peggs pleaded guilty at York Crown Court (Google Street View)

A chef who pulled down the trousers of a teenager in a pub has been ordered to sign the sex offenders' register.

Paul Andrew Peggs admitted he had pulled down the trousers of his 19-year-old victim, but insisted the act "was banter".

The 41-year-old pleaded guilty to the crime at York Crown Court.

The victim was in the smoking area of The Navigation pub in Ripon, North Yorkshire, when Peggs approached him at around 1.30am on 8 January, The Evening Times reported.

Having asked the victim what his natural hair colour was, he lifted up the teenager's shirt to cover his eyes, and pulled down his jeans to expose his pubic hair.

The landlord and landlady of the pub said they later saw the teenager crying. He told the court he felt "angry and upset" after the incident.

Although Peggs later tried to apologise to the teenager, saying he "didn't meaning anything by it," Recorder of York Judge Paul Batty QC said he did not view the incident as a prank.

"That sort of activity is deeply upsetting and deeply humiliating for the young man," he told the court.

Peggs received a 12-month community order with 200 hours unpaid work. He was ordered to pay £750 compensation and £250 in costs. The chef will be on the sex offenders' register for five years.