Nicholas Read, who played an Ewok in Return of the Jedi, given suspended sentence for performing sex act in front of teenager

This article is more than 9 years old

This article is more than 9 years old

An actor who appeared in the Harry Potter and Star Wars films has been given a suspended 20-week jail term for indecently exposing himself to a teenager on a train.

Former pantomime star Nicholas Read, who played an Ewok in Return of the Jedi, was told by a judge that a suspended sentence would offer the best opportunity for rehabilitation.

Read, of Cheadle, north Staffordshire, was convicted of indecent exposure last month after a 17-year-old girl told Leicester crown court how the actor performed a sex act under the cover of a juggler's hat.

Read was shown mercy by recorder Richard Bond despite having previous convictions for sexual offences, including an incident in which he climbed into the bed of a stage manager and his girlfriend.

The 40-year-old's previous convictions also included a series of "random" and explicit phone calls made to women from a hotel room as long ago as 1995.

Passing sentence, Bond said: "A relatively short sentence of imprisonment will not help you, and it certainly will not protect the public from your fantasies. I have had to ask myself this question: is this a case where not just you, but more importantly, the public would benefit from you receiving a short custodial sentence? The answer to that is no."

The judge imposed two specific requirements on Read, which will require him to be supervised by the probation service and to undertake a community sex offender group work programme.

Read, who must also pay £500 towards the cost of his prosecution, was arrested last October after "trapping" his victim in a window seat on a train travelling between London and Leicester.

Bond described Read's latest offence as chilling, telling him: "It was obvious that she was extremely scared by what you did to her. She was so scared that she couldn't complain immediately for fear that you would touch her."

Offering mitigation, Read's defence barrister, Nigel Hamilton, said his client had been involved with pantomimes since the age of 16, earning a weekly wage of up to £800.

Hamilton told the court: "He will not be able to do that anymore – he has had cancellations left, right and centre."