Ex-bar boss faces jail over sexual assault

Wakefield pub landlords start Christmas campaign to make pubs safe. L-R Paul Woodcock (Flares),Dan Smith (Bingbadaboom),Gavin McAspurn (Quest and Mustangs),Garry Knight (Graziers),Tara Dean (Boomerangs),David Tennant (Mex Bar),Claire Malkin (X Bar),Joanne Kelly (Pravda),Nick Attardo (Cave Bar) and Mick Taylor (Protex)

Nicolino Attardo, 59, of, Barnsley Road, South Kirkby, was found guilty of sexually slapping the woman’s bottom. Attardo, who was then the boss of Cave Bar in central Wakefield, also made a “vile” sexual remark to his distressed victim.

The city’s magistrates’ court head how the young woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, went to cry in the bar’s toilets where she discovered a “handprint” on her behind.

Prosecutor Mark Haigh said the incident happened on a night out last November. The woman was buying a drink when, out of the blue, she felt an “almighty slap”.

Attardo, pleaded not guilty, claiming it was “horseplay” with no sexual intent. But Attardo, who sold the bar in January, was convicted and will be sentenced next month.