Woodville South man sentenced after assaulting Tea Tree Plaza worker

Shopping while high on drugs and slovenly, a prescribed High Risk Offender walked behind the counter of a Westfield store and assaulted a teenage shop worker.

Police say a drug-addicted young man is unable to stop violently offending after he attacked a teenage Tea Tree Plaza store worker by grabbing her on the backside.

That man, 29-year-old Adam Woodland, was on Friday sentenced for the aggravated assault of the 19-year-old Tea Tree Plaza worker as the Elizabeth Magistrates Court heard details of the frightening incident.

And while Woodland was released from prison on Sunday after being behind bars for the assault since September 10, he faces the prospect of continued intensive supervision by the Corrections Department reserved for only the most uncontrollable of criminals – something he was already subject of.

On Friday, the court heard Woodland, of Woodville South, was high on drugs when he went behind the counter of the store and grabbed the worker on her buttocks.

“You kept jumping into her, she went behind the counter and you approached her with a couple of hats,” Magistrate Mark Semmens Said.

Serial pest Adam Woodland has been sentenced over a vile assault at Tea Tree Gully during which he grabbed a worker on the buttocks. Picture: Facebook

“You then placed your right arm around her waist, you touched her on the left buttock and you squeezed.

“She became scared, she didn’t know what to do … (and) she was distressed and upset and she was shaking when she reported it to police.”

The court heard an alarming forensic psychiatric report had led police to argue for Woodland to be defined as a High Risk Offender.

The report, the court heard, stated Woodland was at a “high-risk of violent reoffending”, had a drug issue but was defiant to address it, and saw the supervision as a bar to his life.

Mr Semmens said, however, Woodland had shown “some willingness” to address the issues defined in the report.

Drone aerial footage of Tea Tree Plaza Plaza. Picture: AAP/Roy Vandervegt

Mr Semmens sentenced Woodland, who was initially charged with indecent assault, to a three-month term of imprisonment and denounced him for the manner of his attack.

“There was unwarranted contact by you upon a young woman who was occupied by her work duties, all that while you were drug-affected,” he said.

“I publicly denounce your offending as being inappropriate and deeply concerning.”

Woodland’s attack came just 10 days after harsher penalties for assaults on retail workers were enacted into South Australian legislation.