Kanapathy Veerasingham

A convicted sex offender, Kanapathy Veerasingham, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison after admitting to sexually assaulting a 15-year-old schoolboy in a convenience store in Bournemouth. The incident occurred on October 23 at the premises on Charminster Road, where Veerasingham was working as a shop assistant.

Prosecutor Clifford Grier, appearing at Bournemouth Crown Court, detailed how the boy had entered the shop to run an errand for his mother. Veerasingham initiated contact by asking the boy where he was from and then placed his arm around the back of the boy's neck in a half headlock, pulling the confused victim towards him. CCTV footage captured the defendant sniffing the boy's skin before carrying out the sexual assault. The attack was interrupted when another customer entered the shop and began a conversation with Veerasingham.

The distressed boy confided in his mother upon returning home, who promptly called the police. Veerasingham was arrested that same afternoon but initially claimed he had only touched the boy on the shoulder. This offence was not isolated; at the time, Veerasingham was already subject to a nine-month suspended prison sentence from Derby Crown Court for a similar sexual offence involving another young boy, which had been committed in a shop setting.

In mitigation, the court heard that the earlier Derby conviction had caused 'an enormous scandal', forcing Veerasingham to uproot his family and rely on financial support from friends. The 53-year-old father-of-two, residing on Cecil Road in Croydon, London, was also imposed with additional restrictions: he is banned from approaching any child under the age of 16, working with children, entering children's playgrounds, or going within 200 metres of a school. Veerasingham will be required to register as a sex offender for ten years.

The case was heard at Bournemouth Crown Court, with reporting by Julie Magee for the Bournemouth Echo, in partnership with USA Today.