A paedophile who was jailed indefinitely for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in a Black Country supermarket has been freed on appeal after top judges said he should not have been given the open-ended sentence.

Steven Grice committed a number of sex offences before the assault at Asda, Great Bridge, Tipton in October 2009, London’s Appeal Court heard.

The 30-year-old, of Bath, was jailed indefinitely for public protection — almost identical to a life sentence — at Wolverhampton Crown Court in September, after admitting sexual assault on a child under 13.

The Court of Appeal, in London, yesterday replaced the open-ended sentence with a two year term, effectively freeing him from jail.

Grice was in the supermarket with his father when he went off and patted his 12-year-old victim three times on her bottom after she became separated from her family. He argued with a shopper and when security officers intervened he was identified by the victim.

He had previous convictions for 13 sex offences, and including indecent exposure and public indecency, which the sentencing judge said amounted to an “extremely troubling and seedy history.”

In April 2009, months before the attack, he was convicted of sexual assault on a female and exposure and got a two-and-a-half year suspended sentence.

He was also previously banned from unsupervised contact with anyone under 18. His lawyers said an indefinite jail term was “excessive”.

Allowing the appeal, Sir Hugh Bennett said that, although it was a serious offence, an open-ended sentence was not justified, even taking into account Grice’s previous convictions.

As Grice had served a year and four months in jail, he will be released immediately.

The judgment is in contrast to that made in the case of Donald Pearson, of Bilston. The Express & Star reported yesterday the 53-year-old had been hauled back to court and jailed for four years after being found guilty of molesting a nine-year-old boy.

Pearson, of St Martin’s Terrace, was given a suspended sentence at Wolverhampton Crown Court in October, but judges at London’s Court of Appeal attacked the sentence as “unduly lenient” and jailed him after an appeal by Solicitor General Edward Garnier.