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A teenage girl was saved by heroic bystanders after a man dragged her down a town centre back alley and tried to rape her.

Ryan Bennison’s sick attack was foiled by a group of men who managed to chase him off and catch up with him.

One of the men who gave chase then punched Bennison a number of times and detained him until police arrived, reports the Manchester Evening News. Bennison, 27, has been jailed for six years and nine months at Bolton Crown Court, after pleading guilty to attempted rape.

The incident took place on February 1 2019, in Ashton-under-Lyne, prosecution barrister Eddie Steele told the court. The victim, who was aged 17 at the time, had been out all evening and was walking home through the town centre, Mr Steele said.

Bennison, who was a stranger to her, asked for a cigarette and she gave him one. Around 30 seconds later, after she had walked off, Bennison came up to her again to ask for a light. Bennison offered the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, half of the cigarette and she smoked with him. He then kissed her but a few seconds later she tried to pull away.

Mr Steele said: “He looked drunk… She did not want to have sexual contact with him.” Despite the girl’s attempts to pull away, Bennison kissed her neck several times and licked her, before putting his hand on her groin.

“She had to push his hand off but he was persistent,” Mr Steele added. “She told him she had to get home and tried to walk away from him. He told her she wasn’t going home and that she could go to his place. She refused, saying that she had to get back and she didn’t even know him.”

It was at this point that Bennison told the girl his name and asked for hers – however she gave him a false name and continued walking. As she passed an alleyway by Mynt Bar, Bennison grabbed her arm and dragged her down it. While down the alley, Bennison managed to overpower the girl and pulled her pants down, as well as his own. He rubbed her genital area for 10 to 15 seconds, despite her trying to keep her legs together.

During the attack, a group of five men passed the alley after having a meal at nearby restaurant Jade Garden. Bennison then dragged the girl to the ground and put his hand over her mouth to try and stop her from screaming.

She eventually managed to get his hand away to scream for help and some of the men chased Bennison as he tried to pull his pants up. Another passer-by saw the chase and joined in, before catching up to him and detaining him. He also punched Bennison a “couple of times” to keep him there, Mr Steele said.

One of the men had stayed to comfort the victim and while doing so, a van driver appeared and said that ‘someone had grabbed the lad and had hold of him a short distance away’. The girl went to identify Bennison and confirmed he was the man who attacked her.

Due to facial injuries from being punched, Bennison was taken to hospital after being arrested. During his interview, he claimed that it was a false accusation and said that the girl had “yelped” after he tickled her ribs, which drew the attention of the men.

However CCTV obtained from a number of businesses in Ashton town centre showed Bennison holding onto the victim’s hand, pulling her along towards the alley and pushing her against something, as a struggle ensued. Shortly after disappearing out of view, Bennison reappeared on camera and could be seen pulling up his clothing at the back, as he ran away.

‘I felt numb, I felt empty, I felt unsafe’

In a victim impact statement, the girl said: “I don’t go out alone anymore and when I do, I wear two pairs of pants. I won’t leave the safety of my own home unless my phone is fully charged and I ask someone to keep an eye on my location. This is the effect the crime has had on my life. I never used to do this and I shouldn’t have to do this.

“That night, I felt numb, I felt empty, I felt unsafe and I felt I didn’t even own my own body. After it happened, I didn’t go out at all. That night changed my life. It still lives with me to this day. I still see and feel what happened every night. It’s killed the person I once was. I still get flashbacks of the night and it takes me hours to get to sleep and when I do, that night happens all over again.”

She also slammed how long it had taken from the incident to get to sentence, after Bennison’s initial not guilty plea in July 2019. His trial was originally fixed for May 2020 but was pushed back four times, due to the pandemic, illness, and lack of court space.

He eventually pleaded guilty on the day of his rearranged trial, on December 13 2022. She added: “Multiple times I’ve had to prepare to give my evidence in court. He’s waited all these years to plead guilty knowing full well that he is guilty. For years, he has been able to live his life and get away with everything he’s done to me. I want the court to know the massive impact this has had on me. Why should he be allowed to plead guilty after all this time?”

The Honorary Recorder of Bolton Judge Martin Walsh apologised for the delays. He said: “I apologise on behalf of the criminal justice system. It doesn’t reflect well on the criminal justice system and the impact of the delay has been clearly articulated in this moving victim impact statement.”

Defence barrister Adam Watkins told the court that Bennison, of Hutton Avenue, Ashton-under-Lyne, has no previous convictions. Describing the incident as “extremely troubling” and “impulsive”, Mr Watkins said: “Shortly before attacking her, he told us his own name. This is evidence that there was nothing planned or calculated about what he planned to do.”

He added that at the time of the offence, Bennison was aged 23 and “living an aimless life”, drinking “too much” alcohol and smoking cannabis “almost daily”.

“He has made real progress in the years since,” Mr Watkins said. “He has found and held employment. He has given up cannabis and massively reduced his consumption of alcohol.”

Mr Watkins also said that Bennison has been subject to a doorstep curfew for three-and-a-half years, with no reported breaches, and asked Judge Walsh to consider this when passing sentence.

‘Only because of the late intervention of others that the full offence was not committed’

Jailing Bennison for six years and nine months, Judge Walsh said: “[The victim] was vulnerable. There was a degree of abduction in that she was taken against her will into an alleyway and it is clear from her victim impact statement that the attack has caused her severe and enduring psychological harm. Some degree of physical force was used by you in the attack upon her and she sustained some physical injury.

“Some reduction in sentence is appropriate however to reflect the fact that you are to be sentenced for an offence of attempted rape and not for the full offence. It is right to point out, however, that it was only because of the late intervention of others that the full offence was not committed. You had pulled down her underwear and your underwear and were attempting to penetrate [the victim] when you were disturbed.

“You pleaded guilty at a very late stage. The complainant, it should be remembered, had to prepare herself for the prospect of giving evidence on five different trial dates. Notwithstanding the delays which have occurred in this case however, I acknowledge that your plea was entered before [the victim] had to endure the ordeal of actually giving evidence and of being subjected to cross-examination. l am prepared therefore, perhaps as an act of leniency, to allow you 10pc credit to reflect the very late admission of culpability.

“Had you been convicted after trial for a full offence of rape the appropriate sentence would, in my judgment, have been one of eight-and-a-half years imprisonment. Having regard to the fact that you are to be sentenced for an offence of attempted rape, the starting point will be reduced to one of seven-and-a-half years.

“Having indicated that I am prepared to allow 10pc reduction to reflect your late plea the sentence is reduced to one of six years and nine months imprisonment.”

Judge Walsh said that he was not prepared to make any further reduction for the time that Bennison had spent on curfew. He added: “The primary reason for the delay in sentencing is your delay in accepting responsibility for what you have done.

“I should add that in considering the exercise of discretion I have had regard also to the fact that I have already afforded you a reduction in sentence to reflect your late plea notwithstanding the fact that the case had been listed for trial on four previous occasions and that a jury had been previously empanelled. There will no further reduction to reflect time spent by you on a non-qualifying curfew.”

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