A young teenager went to an abandoned block of flats with a 47 year-old man who sexually touched her.

A trial was held in his absence when Justin Taylor failed to appear at Haverfordwest magistrates court on Monday, February 17.

Taylor, of Elm Grove, Southsea, previously pleaded not guilty to touching a 14 year-old girl in a sexual way, without reasonably believing she was aged 16 or over, in Pembroke on March 26, 2018.

The bench heard that Taylor, now 49, admitted kissing the girl. Mobile phone footage of the pair in a ‘tight embrace’ taken by a concerned member of the public, who thought the girl only looked 13, was played to the court.

Vaughan Pritchard-Jones, prosecuting, said it was the crown's case that Taylor touched the girl’s breast and groin area over her clothing.

The girl’s mother told the court she took her daughter home after finding her talking to Taylor at around 3pm on March 26, 2018, and suspected she had been drinking alcohol.

Later that day the girl left the family home without her mother’s knowledge.

The mother said: “I had a text from someone saying that she was down by the pond with someone who looked dodgy.”

The teen’s mother drove around looking for her before spotting her walking with Taylor towards Rocky Park flats at 7pm.

The block of flats was unoccupied and under construction, but Taylor was seen to attempt to gain access, and the girl walked off when her mother attempted to get her to come home.

The mother said: “He actually said it was safe for me to leave her with him and just go home.”

The woman became concerned when she lost sight of her daughter and called the police.

“If they got into the flat I was worried about what could happen to her.”

Taylor resisted arrest and had to be taken to the ground and handcuffed by officers, after refusing to provide his name and address.

In interview Taylor stated he met the girl by chance, and thought she was aged 18.

He stated: “We were just chatting and at some point we just put our arms around each other and had a kiss. It was a spur of the moment thing because we connected.”

He added he attempted to persuade the girl to go home when her mother arrived.

Magistrates found Taylor guilty and issued a warrant for his arrest.

The chairman of the bench said: “You should have known that the victim was under the age of 16 from the first encounter.”