A man who grabbed a schoolgirl’s breast on a train and broke another man’s nose in an unprovoked attack is today behind bars.

Paul Johns, 22, denied sexually assaulting the 14-year-old girl but was convicted at trial.

Jeremy Jenkins, defending, told Merthyr Crown Court there had been a ‘disparaging exchange’ between the girl and Johns.

‘The incident was shocking for the child,’ he said.

‘It doesn’t seem to be overtly sexual, but may well have been an act of revenge.’

Prosecutor Tracey Lloyd-Nesling said Johns had a previous conviction for sexual assault and three for violent offences.

Last September, he was jailed after approaching a woman in Aberdare and ‘forcefully’ putting his hand between her legs.

In the latest of his convictions for violence, Johns, of Porcher Avenue, Glyncoch, Pontypridd, admitted assaulting well-known Pontypridd man Michael Williams, who the court heard was regularly seen in Taff Street.

Judge Curran jailed Johns for an extended sentence of three years but said he would be eligible for parole after nine months.

Johns was banned from working with children and must sign the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.