The founder of a Lincolnshire estate agents who sexually molested a teenage girl has had his jail term more than halved on appeal.

Simon Bews (43), a married father-of-three, followed the 17-year-old as she walked home from a night out in Sleaford.

He then grabbed her bottom, put his hand over her mouth and dragged her along the road.

The terrified teenager thought he was going to rape her, London Court of Appeal heard.

Bews stopped the attack when the girl's boyfriend turned up.

Bews, of London Road, Sleaford, admitted sexual assault and was sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court in May this year to three and a half years in jail.

However, that was slashed to 18 months yesterday after his lawyer, Michael Cranmer-Brown, argued the sentence was too harsh.

The barrister said that the Crown Court judge had imposed the term on the basis of speculation as to what might have happened if the girl's boyfriend had not turned up.

Mr Justice Nelson, sitting at the Appeal Court with Lord Justice Hooper and Mr Justice Maddison, said Bews admitted he was drunk that night and had been under some financial strain, because business was not good.

He also pointed to character references submitted to the court, and described Bews as a 'good family man'.

For more details on this case, see Saturday's Echo.