A man who sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl as she was walking home along a canal towpath in Manchester has been jailed.

Artus Kozlovskis, 23, was sentenced to five years in prison in Manchester crown court on Friday after pleading guilty to attacking the girl on 10 February.



The court heard the child had been walking along the canal in the Openshaw area when Kozlovskis dragged her to a nearby patch of wasteland, covered her mouth to stop her crying out and sexually assaulted her.

Kozlovskis, from Latvia, claimed to have been on the drug spice at the time of the attack and to have no recollection of what he had done. He said the incident had “opened his eyes” to the dangers of using the drug.

The child ran away when Kozlovskis started to roll a cigarette and she stopped a dog walker to ask for help. CCTV showed her attacker chasing her and walking past a nearby corner shop. Kozlovskis was caught hours after his image was released by police.

Justice William Davis, sentencing, told the defendant: “This is the nightmare of every parent. You brought that nightmare to the parents of this little girl. As a result of what you did, she suffered badly and I have no doubt will continue to suffer.

“At the time you did what you did, you had a stable background, you had a family, you had a job. There was nothing in your life that should have put you off the rails, apart from the fact you were on drugs, and yet you behaved in this grave way towards this young girl.”

DI Claire McGuire of Greater Manchester police said: “Every person that heard about this appalling case was genuinely shocked. I hope this awful case will send a clear message that we are prepared to work relentlessly to bring sexual predators like Kozlovskis to justice.”

Kozlovskis will remain on licence for an additional three years and has been issued with a sexual harm prevention order.