The first of the two women approached by sex offender David Karl Hampton on York city centre streets has made a personal statement about the effect of his words on her.

York Magistrates Court heard he made sexual threatening comments to her as she was walking on a city centre lit street at night.

In a statement to the court, she said: “The actions of this man have left me feeling terrified. I felt extremely distressed, anxious and disgusted.

“I am unable to sleep without my boyfriend there because I feel so paranoid that he is out on the street near my house. I feel completely vulnerable and unsafe going out on my own and will not leave the house alone at night because this experience has left me so scared.

“As he was making these threats to me, I was completely paralysed with fear, because I fully felt that he was going to hurt me. This feeling has stayed with me in the weeks since, and I am constantly tearful every time I think about it.

“The threats that he made ring in my head constantly, and I have had multiple nightmares where he is following me again. This event has made me feel very lonely and distrustful of every man I see on the street. I am constantly looking and scanning people’s faces, looking for him in case he is nearby.

“The thought that this man is wandering the streets at night makes me fearful for my own safety and the safety of any other woman walking alone.

“As a result of his actions, I do not feel safe or relaxed in my own home or walking around my local area. This feeling of fear will stay with me, I know that it will take me a long time to regain the confidence to walk on my own.

“As a young woman this has had a huge impact on my working and my social life, as well as my mental health. I have stopped seeing my friends and going out on an evening, it is disabling the way I feel as a person and the way I live my life. It has left me feeling very isolated.

“I have recently been promoted at work, but this incident has stripped me of the joy and pride I would have normally felt, because I feel so distracted and fearful.

“I believe this behaviour needs to be taken as the warning sign that it is. I do not want another woman to feel the fear and the anxiety that I am enduring.”

Read about what happened to Hampton and the second victim here