Christopher Nicholas: 72yo man accused of pursuing underage girl says he wanted to offer her a job

A 72-year-old man accused of repeatedly pursuing an underage girl while she worked at a Maddington coffee shop has told a magistrate he was trying to offer her a job. Christopher Nicholas faced Armadale Magistrates Court last Thursday where he faced one charge of pursuing another person in a manner to intimidate with circumstances of aggravation. The now 73-year-old was arrested by Cannington Police last year, who allege he approached the 14-year-old girl repeatedly at the shopping complex where she worked. Mr Nicholas was first charged with aggravated stalking — later amended to his current charge — and, according to court documents, pleaded not guilty in November last year. Police prosecutor Sgt Rajneesh Sood told the court the events occurred between May and August last year. He said those interactions allegedly included Mr Nicholas telling the complainant she was “working hard (and) not paid enough”, telling her she was “beautiful”, asking where she went to school and giving her a piece of paper with his number written on it. The complainant alleged Mr Nicholas said she should call him alone. “He gave me a note, he said it’s his name and phone number,” she said. “He told me to call it but don’t tell anyone and make sure I don’t tell my parents.” Sgt Sood also said Mr Nicholas allegedly offered to gift her a Pandora bracelet but said she needed to go with him to get it fitted. “Our case is there are a number of times Mr Nicholas approached the complainant (and) that it fits with the definition of pursuing,” he said. Mr Nicholas rejected those allegations during cross-examination. “Absolutely not,” he said when asked if he called the girl “beautiful”. He alleged he had told the girl she would be “suitable” for a “nice coffee house” that his friends were opening up. He also said he had not offered to buy the girl a Pandora bracelet but instead made reference to it as a present for his own daughter. His lawyer, Marc Saupin, told the court he was an elderly gentleman who frequented the shopping complex where the coffee shop was located. “Our respectful submission is that it doesn’t amount to repeated behaviour on what constitutes stalking,” he said. “It doesn’t reach the stalking threshold.” Dr Saupin said the prosecution’s case included “red herrings” and the lapse in time between the interactions meant an allegation of stalking had not been proved beyond a reasonable doubt. “This may be considered bad behaviour for sure,” he said. “A reasonable explanation for Mr Nicholas’ presence at the shopping centre is it’s in walking distance, he’s a pensioner, he lives alone. “It beggars belief this is repeated conduct and repeated behaviour.” Magistrate Matthew Holgate will hand down his decision on May 7.