A creepy pizza boss who offered to be a teenage trainee’s “sugar daddy” and planted a kiss on her neck at work is facing jail.
Daniel Murray Jnr threw a £10 note on a kitchen counter before making the lewd offer to the shocked 17-year-old, a court heard.
The 34-year-old then “buried his head” in her neck before planting a kiss on it, later causing the victim to have a panic attack.
Following a contested hearing at Laganside Magistrates Court in Belfast on Friday, Murray Jnr was convicted on a single count of sexual assault against the girl.
During the hearing the victim, who had just celebrated her 17th birthday at the time, said he had made a series of remarks about her “legality” before the attack.
“I was setting up the pizza dough balls and he came over and was talking about my wages,” she said: “He put down a £10 note on the marble and said: ‘I will be your sugar daddy’.
“I felt a bit awkward so I laughed it off. He then went in for a hug and buried his head in my neck and kissed it.
“His lips were pursed and it made a noise, I think it was done with sexual intent because he would make comments like ‘you move your hands very well’ when I was shaping the dough.
“He asked my age once and when I told him I was 17 he said, ‘happy days you’re legal’, and would keep making comments about me being legal.
“I pushed him off (after the incident) and he left. I asked a colleague if she had heard it and then I was pretty zoned out for the rest of the shift, I wasn’t really engaged.”
The victim said the incident, which took place at one of the Rocco’s Pizza & Treats branches in Belfast, caused her to have a panic attack and made her “skin crawl”.
She continued: “About an hour before the end of the shift I felt a panic attack coming on so I went to the walk-in fridge and was comforted by a colleague.
“It made my skin crawl, I didn’t know how to react because it was disgusting and I had never experienced anything like that before.”
The court heard how creepy Murray Jnr sent the girl a text message at 2.15am the following morning which read “Hi love, hope you’re ok, well done tonight you did very well” accompanied by two heart emojis.
The victim told her parents the next day and after texting her supervisor about it she received a call from Murray Jnr, which she immediately handed over to her father.
She said she contacted police but was initially told it was “more of a hassle” to go through with making a statement of complaint, and so she provided an account for information purposes only.
However, on the one-year anniversary of the incident, after she had become an adult, she again contacted cops to “prevent it from happening to anyone else”.
During his evidence Murray Jnr denied sexually assaulting the victim in 2021 or offering to be her sugar daddy, but admitted sending her a text message in the early hours, conceding it was “unprofessional”.
He told the court: “It was unprofessional to say ‘love’, I don’t text staff like that anymore. I sent heart emojis because I am used to interacting with my sisters in that way, I texted her because it was her first shift and she was nervous.”
The court heard Murray Jnr had told police in interview he sent the message because “she’s a child and I like to look after my staff”.
The owner of Rocco’s Pizza & Treats, Ryan Morton, gave evidence on behalf of the defendant, as did an employee.
Despite Murray Jnr’s denials and supporting witnesses, he was convicted by District Judge Anne Marshall, who said: “I believe he did exactly what she said he did.”
Following his conviction Murray Jnr was freed on bail pending the completion of reports ahead of sentencing next month.
by BelfastTelegraph
9 comments
What a dirty fucker. Needs jail time and placed on the sex offenders list for that. Young girl only trying to earn a few pound.
Needs to lay off the sugar from the looks of him. What a creep.
I shouldn’t laugh but a fucking tenner? Is that it? Some sugar daddy.
Gross. Ugly on the inside and out.
Gross. It is interesting though that they got a conviction despite there being 2 witnesses defending him as well as no physical evidence. Would like to see how it was done
This is the final boss of neckbeards. Defeat him in court and the kingdom is yours
£10? More like sugar-sachet daddy.
I dont get how weirdos think like this. If he just had a modicum of thought, hed not be in this position and he would probs be running a profitable business no issue.
> initially contacted police to be told “it was more of a hassle”
The police here are absolute gowls when it comes to predators.