Malton man jailed for more than four years after sexually assaulting young woman out on her horse

Nathan McCracken, 29, was branded a “danger to women” by a Crown Court judge who found that the Malton man posed such a threat to lone females he gave him an extended prison sentence.

McCracken, a loner who has a track record for “strikingly similar” behaviour, was on a lifetime sexual-harm prevention order when he targeted the young woman in a remote village near York.

Prosecutor Louise Reevell said that McCracken, who was on his way back to Malton from a bookmakers in York, deliberately chose to drive down rural back roads to target young women.

After driving past a teenage girl riding her horse, McCracken turned his car around and drove back towards her, said Ms Reevell.

“She became aware of a Peugeot 207 behind her,” she added.

“She slowed down to let it pass safely but the defendant pulled up alongside her and she noticed at that point that it was a man who had just passed her in the opposite direction.

“He asked her for directions to a farm near a (named) village.

"She didn’t know (the farm) but gave directions to the village.

"However, he got out of the car and asked her her name and age and started to pay her a number of compliments.

“He sought to impress her (by claiming) he was a farmer whose father had property in London where he spent some of his time.

"He said he owned a BMW.”

The victim told McCracken her true age but made it clear she was “not interested in him”, but McCracken became “increasingly persistent”.

“Alone in the countryside, she unsurprisingly found him to be somewhat intimidating,” said Ms Reevell.

“She was nervous and concerned not to spook her horse.”

McCracken asked for her phone number and the victim gave it to him because she thought it would be “safer to provide it rather than risk provoking him”.

“He rang it straight away to make sure the number was genuine,” added Ms Reevell.

“He was getting increasingly closer to her and asked her to kiss him.”

He then lunged towards her and grabbed her on an intimate part of her body, before grabbing her bottom with the other hand.

The victim managed to get him off by “using her leg to manoeuvre her horse” and told McCracken to stop.

“She decided it was safer to leave than stay and placate him and rode off on her horse,” said Ms Reevell.

As she did so, McCracken shouted over to her, warning her “not to tell anyone”, as he drove off.

“But then he turned around again and in a short time he was again alongside her, telling her not to contact the police and offering her money - £1,200 that he would get if a horse he’d backed were to win,” said Ms Reevell.

The victim couldn’t remember the full name of the horse, but recalled that it had “Power” in its name.

“She contacted her parents and a family friend, and her father came out to her and told her to ride home while he went looking for McCracken, but couldn’t find him,” added Ms Reevell.

“Almost immediately, the (victim) received messages from the defendant.”

The victim contacted McCracken and then informed police who arrested him the following day.

During questioning, McCracken denied sexually assaulting the young woman and even falsely claimed she had verbally abused him “for being a sex offender”.

“He said he had been to the bookies to place bets on horses and said one of the horses was called Winter Power and that he stood to win around £1,200 if it won,” said Ms Reevell.

Unwittingly, he had offered police priceless prosecution evidence as the victim had already given them the partial name of the horse.

McCracken, of Commercial Street, Norton, was charged with sexual assault and breaching a sexual-harm prevention order.

He admitted the breach but continued to deny the sexual assault right up until the day of trial, when he entered a last-minute guilty plea.

He appeared for sentence today.

Ms Reevell said McCracken had used a bookmakers in York rather than Malton because media coverage of his previous convictions had made him a pariah in his village.

The victim said she no longer felt safe going out on her own because “I feel as if someone is constantly watching me”.

She said the terrifying incident, which occurred in July last year, had affected her work and made her feel anxious in public places.

McCracken had previous convictions for trying to incite a 14-year-old ‘girl’ online and a previous sex attack on a lone female in the street.

In 2019, he was jailed for six months after being convicted of attempted sexual communication with a child and trying to incite an under-age ‘girl’ to engage in sexual activity.

The previous sexual assault occurred in June 2020 when he targeted a teenage girl in a remote location near Malton in another chilling incident “strikingly similar” to the new offence.

He received a 16-month prison sentence for that offence in October 2020 and was slapped with a lifelong sexual-harm prevention order to prevent him approaching lone young women in the street and from having any advertent contact with children.

Defence barrister Michael Forrest said McCracken had endured a difficult childhood which, along with loneliness, was the “catalyst” for his offending and deviant “sexual desires”.

Judge Simon Hickey said McCracken was “undoubtedly dangerous” and so an extended prison sentence was required “to protect young women from people like yourself”.

McCracken was jailed for four years and seven months.

Upon his eventual release from jail, he will have to serve an extended two-year period on prison licence.