Man jailed for sexually assaulting 11-year-old as she watched Hamley's magic show

A man has been jailed after admitting to sexually assaulting a child as she watched a magic show in a central London toy store.

Neil Cuthbertson pleaded guilty to the “serious sexual assault” of an 11-year-old girl in Hamley’s Toy Store, Regents Street.

He carried out the assault as she watched a magic show on November 8, 2015, before fleeing from the store.

After a police appeal, Cuthbertson was arrested and charged on December 19 2016.

He pleaded guilty to serious sexual assault on a female under the age of 13 years and was jailed for five-and-a-half years.

DC Brian Simmonds of the Metropolitan Police Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Team said: "I can only pay tribute to the victim and her family in this case, whose bravery in seeing this through led Cuthbertson to plead guilty.

"Incidents like this in public spaces are relatively rare, and the Met Police are committed to robustly prosecuting offenders such as Cuthbertson and safeguarding the public."