A man who groped women on buses in Colchester has been ordered to receive mental health treatment.

Mohamed Alhamoud, 44, sat next to seven women on the buses in and around Colchester town centre and used his bag to conceal what he was doing to them with his leg or arm, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Alhamoud, of Howe Close, Colchester, admitted five charges of sexual assault and two attempted sexual assaults between September 2015 and May 2016.

He was given a three-year community order with a mental health treatment requirement and a 50-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

He was also given a five-year sexual harm prevention order and ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for the same period.

Stephen Rose, prosecuting, said the victims of the offences came forward as a result of the incident they were involved in or as a result of widespread publicity about the assaults.

During the investigation it was discovered that Alhamoud’s bus pass had been used around the time of the offences.

On one occasion, Alhamoud, who was carrying hospital crutches, put his leg round a woman’s leg and touched her left thigh with his hand. The shocked woman rang the bell and got off the bus.

On another occasion he had “caressed” a woman’s leg near her thigh and had moved his hand towards her bottom.

When she challenged him he said: “I’m sorry I couldn’t help myself - you are so gorgeous”, the court heard.

Alhamoud had also walked past empty seats on a bus to sit next to another woman and had touched her leg under her skirt resulting in her ringing the bell and getting off the bus.

He had also tried to touch a 17-year-old woman on the knee and had stroked another woman’s leg for five minutes.

He also brushed another woman’s thigh with his finger tips and then crossed his arms and brushed the side of her body near her bra.

Alhamoud told police he had post traumatic stress disorder caused by his experiences in Syria and had no memory of the alleged incidents on the buses.