A MENTALLY ill man who dragged a 10-year-old girl into a supermarket toilet and told her to undress has been sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

Joshua Smith, formerly of Church Road, Long Hanborough, but now detained indefinitely at Littlemore Mental Health Hospital, committed a sexual assault at Morrisons in Carterton on May 12 this year.

The 24-year-old was found not to be fit to enter a plea because he is mentally ill and has learning difficulties, so on Monday a jury was asked to determine if he committed the crime.

Prosecutor Laura Blackman said at about 3.40pm his victim, who is now 11-years-old and cannot be named for legal reasons, was shopping with her family.

She told the jury that Smith, who was with his mother, noticed the girl going into the supermarket’s unisex toilets and followed her in.

The barrister said: “She closed the door, but she was aware of someone outside the cubicle.

“As she left the cubicle Joshua Smith effectively grabbed her and pushed her back into the cubicle and closed the door. He said he wanted her to take her clothes off. She ran out of the toilet and ran to find her mum and dad.

“She was very distraught and her parents went to report what had happened to staff in the shop.”

Miss Blackman said when he was arrested Smith told the police he had “wanted to see a girl naked”.

The jury unanimously found he had committed the crime after deliberating for less than half an hour.

Last year Smith was convicted of an earlier sexual assault on a girl under 13-years-old.

He was then made subject to an order which required him to be supervised by his care management team and the Probation Service for three years.

But on Monday Judge Ian Pringle said he would now be sectioned, and added: “There wasn’t the option that I have been able to take this time on that occasion.”

He also praised Smith’s mother for doing everything she could to help her son, including admitting him to the Littlemore hospital prior to the hearing.