Emma Richards, 41, of Green Lane, Litherland, was given an 18-month community order on 14 October after she pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a taxi driver. The order includes a six-month alcohol abstinence requirement. She must register as a sex offender for five years. The driver is not named. The Liverpool Echo reported the hearing on 15 October.
The case was listed for 2pm on 14 October 2026, in court 61 at Liverpool Crown Court, before His Honour Judge Medland KC. The case list gives the reference B20260340. The defendant number is 05E10709726. The list does not state the charge. The plea and the sentence come from the court report.
Earlier listings for the same defendant number show a sitting at 10am on 8 September 2026, in court 62 before His Honour Judge Woodhall, and a sitting at 10am on 22 September 2026, in court 61 before Judge Medland. They do not say what those hearings were for. The Echo says Richards initially denied the assault and changed her plea after a previous hearing.
What the prosecutor said
Ben Stanley said the driver received a call at about 8.50pm on 12 June 2026 to take Richards from Cumberland Street in the Cavern Quarter to Green Lane. The Echo says he was driving her home. She got into the front passenger seat. The report does not name the firm, or the council that licensed the driver.
Mr Stanley said Richards had been drinking heavily. She made suggestive comments and said the driver "smelled nice". She grabbed his left arm and leaned towards him, trying to kiss him. He told her to stay in her seat. She tried again to grab his arm and lean in.
Mr Stanley said: "A short time later, the defendant touched his groin, rubbing it with her right hand. He didn't tell her to stop because he was worried how she would react as they were trapped in the vehicle together, and this continued for a few minutes."
The Echo says she pulled up her top and exposed her chest while rubbing his groin and genitals. The incident lasted about four minutes, and Richards then left the vehicle. The driver parked around the corner and called the police.
Judge Simon Medland KC said: "The evidence against her was frankly overwhelming because of the car CCTV footage."
What the driver said
In a statement, he said that before this he had felt like a normal person, comfortable meeting different people and sitting alone with passengers. He said that feeling of safety had gone. Being in a confined space with a woman made him extremely uncomfortable, and he sometimes felt nervous when there was no reason to be. He said he could not avoid those situations, because picking up passengers was how he earned his living.
He said he tried to carry on, but the anxiety became too much and he had to stop working as a taxi driver. He said he did not feel like the same person. He had suffered anxiety and nightmares, and he still thought about the incident when he tried to sleep. He said the assault had left him embarrassed, and that he had not been able to have an intimate relationship with a woman since.
He said: "As a man there's an expectation I should be able to deal with things and move on. I tell myself I'm safe but my mind and body do not always react that way. While the incident lasted a short period of time the effects have lasted for a very long time after."
What the defence said
Matt O'Neill, defending, said Richards's life had been very traumatic, that she had been a victim of domestic abuse, and that she had attempted suicide. He said she had lost her good character because of alcohol. He asked for a community order, and said: "These offences were clearly committed while she was highly intoxicated."
The sentence
The Echo says Richards cried as she stood to hear the sentence, an 18-month community order with a six-month alcohol abstinence requirement. She fell to the floor when she was told she would be a registered sex offender for five years, and she had to be escorted from the courtroom. The report does not mention compensation, a fine, costs or a victim surcharge.
The paper attributes these remarks to Judge Menary: "This has had a serious impact on the victim. It proves the point that sexual assault, whether committed by a woman or a man, on a woman or a man, is a very serious thing. Maybe the incident was only a few minutes, but often has a profound effect on the victim."
It also reports him saying: "She committed the offence because she was very drunk. I do not dispute for one minute that which is identified by the pre-sentence report, namely a history of anxiety and depression which are mental illnesses. All of that will have been exacerbated by any problems within relationships, violent or otherwise. I also have to balance against that the effect on the victim and the nature of the offence."
The cause list for that afternoon names only His Honour Judge Medland KC. It does not name a Judge Menary.