A York man has been jailed for sex assaults on four young women.
Brian Bulimore, a 45-year-old former supermarket worker, targeted the women over a two-year period, York Crown Court heard.
He appeared for sentence yesterday (Friday) after pleading guilty to seven counts of sexual assault.
Prosecutor Nick Adlington said police received reports in October last year that two women had been sexually assaulted in York.
One of the victims, none of whom can be named for legal reasons, was attacked on premises in York where Bulimore grabbed her on intimate parts of her body.
The victim was “shaking and frightened” and pleaded with him to stop, added Mr Adlington.
She didn’t report the attack until six months later, by which time Bulimore had sexually assaulted another woman.
The second victim was pulled inside a room, pushed against a wall and was initially showered with compliments about her looks.
Bulimore, a qualified engineer, then sexually assaulted her and forced her hand onto his private parts.
He was arrested in October 2022 but refused to comment when being quizzed by police.
Bulimore, of Escrick Street, York, was released on bail pending further enquiries, but then two more women came forward alleging they had also been sexually attacked.
‘Massive effect’
One of the women said that Bulimore had had grabbed her on an intimate part of her body. She too didn’t report the incident initially because she didn’t think she would be believed.
The fourth victim said she had been sexually assaulted but she also didn’t report it at the time.
Bulimore, a father-of-six who had a partner at the time, was arrested again in November 2022 on suspicion of the new allegations.
In statements read out in court, one of the victims who made the initial complaints said the sex attack had “massively affected” her mental health.
She said that at the time of the attack she was “deep in shock, felt numb” and that she couldn’t eat or sleep for weeks afterwards.
She suffered “severe anxiety”, “felt so low” and thought it was somehow her fault. She said she felt “sick and ashamed” that she hadn’t reported the incident straight away.
She said that the attacks had “driven a wedge” between her and her partner and she had “lost my personality”.
‘Emotional damage’
The second victim said that Bulimore’s actions had “made my skin crawl”. She felt “disgusted in my own skin” and was left feeling “lonely and belittled”.
She said she was too scared to tell anyone at first and didn’t think she would be believed.
Defence barrister Marte Alnaes said that Bulimore, whom she described as well educated, had never been in trouble before and been a family man.
His career had included spells at Royal Mail, Samuel Smith’s Brewery in Tadcaster and supermarkets.
Bulimore claimed his behaviour was “out of character” for which he was remorseful, but a pre-sentence probation report noted that he had “a lot of concern for himself rather than the victims”.
Judge Simon Hickey noted the “emotional damage” caused to the victims and said that Bulimore “must have sought out or targeted” the women and in two instances they had been “isolated” before being sexually assaulted.
Jailing Bulimore for a year and eight months, Mr Hickey said he had to consider “the way the victims have had to suffer”. Bulimore will serve half of that sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence.
He was ordered to sign on the sex-offenders’ register for ten years.