Stanko Dicovski, 63, pleaded not guilty to committing an act of indecency on the schoolgirl at the now-defunct Whitebait restaurant in Manuka on March 5 last year.

But Special Magistrate Ken Cush found the offence proved beyond reasonable doubt and sentenced Dicovski to a six-month suspended jail term and two-year good-behaviour order. The court heard the man grabbed and squeezed the girl's buttocks and breast, then tried to kiss her. In a victim impact statement read to the court, the girl said the assault had impacted on her family life, her emotional state and caused her to lose her appetite.

''I found it very difficult to leave the home as I would be anxious to go out in public,'' she said.

The court heard Dicovski had 13 convictions for stealing, fraud, common assault and traffic matters on a criminal record spanning 37 years.

Dicovski's lawyer told the court her client had suffered humiliation as a result of the matter and the defendant said a friend of the complainant had assaulted him.

Mr Cush said Dicovski, a father of three, did not seem to accept blame for the incident and denied responsibility for his actions.

He said the defendant had acted in a ''lustful, self-gratifying manner'' in committing a ''spur of the moment'' act on the girl.

''The victim was 15, half the age of his eldest daughter,'' he said.