A SEX attacker groped a terrified stranger on his wedding anniversary after stalking her through the streets of Worcester.

Jeremy Anderson's carefully planned attack, captured on CCTV, was branded 'chilling' by the judge who jailed him at Worcester Crown Court yesterday.

The 41-year groped the screaming woman, aged in her 50s, in Croft Road near the railway viaduct, putting his hand over her mouth and pulling her top up before he fled. The attack by the 'sexually frustrated' and self-confessed 'Christian' took place on the day of his eighth wedding anniversary to his estranged wife.

The father-of-two of Bromyard Road, St John's, Worcester had previously admitted the attack which took place at around 5.25am on December 12 last year.

Anderson began to follow his victim outside the Crowngate Shopping Centre, stalking her along a bridge in front of the Hive before he struck near the viaduct.

Daniel Oscroft, prosecuting, said: "She could smell the leather on the gloves. He gripped her around the face, covering her mouth and nose."

He pulled at her top, pushed his body against hers in what was described as a sexual motion in an attack which lasted around 30 seconds. She flagged down a driver who took her to the police station where she reported the attack.

Anderson walked along The Butts to the railway station at Foregate Street where he ducked his head after spotting a CCTV camera.

At the station Anderson changed his clothes, taking off his hat, removing his dark coat and changing into a light grey or cream quilted 'puffer jacket'.

He changed platforms, boarded a train but got off again before it departed in an attempt to 'blend in with commuters' during the morning rush hour.

Anderson claimed he changed because the new coat was warmer and said he was trying to catch the 6.02am train to Birmingham to see his estranged wife for their anniversary.

However, he never caught the train and ended up getting a taxi back to his Worcester home. He also had not told his wife he was coming and the prosecutor said it was an attempt to create 'a cover story'.

Anderson was identified by work colleagues and fellow students following a police appeal. The defendant was completing a diploma in education from the University of Worcester and had ambitions to become a teacher.

He had told his fellow students that 'a man's God-given right is to have sex' and that if a couple had an argument the woman should still 'give the male sex'.

The court heard, he also said 'women like it rough' which he claimed was a reference to Fifty Shades of Grey.

On his mobile phone, police found articles and images relating to women being groped and sexually assaulted in public as well as hundreds of pornographic images, many of women in their 50s.

A harrowing victim impact statement described how the victim suffered from anxiety and depression, could not sleep, felt exhausted, was unable to use public transport or walk in quiet areas, could no longer visit her family and had considered moving away.

She was even afraid to visit her father's grave at the cemetery because it was so quiet there.

She said: "My anxiety was so bad I was physically sick in the street. I don't think things will be the same again."

When asked why he stopped the attack he said: "I recognised immediately what I was really doing and how wrong it was. It was like I woke up and came to my senses."

He said he only decided to attack the woman when he realised he could not get an earlier train from Shrub Hill Station.

But judge Nicholas Cole said: "As I have seen from the chilling CCTV footage, it is clear you were stalking her from a distance until you saw the opportunity to attack her."

The judge jailed him for three years and 10 months, less the time he has spent on remand since the attack.

* The Worcester News maintains that this is an accurate report of what was said in court. However, the University of Worcester has asked us to include the following statement in relation to Jeremy Anderson: “We can find no record of this individual studying here at the University of Worcester or at a partner college where we are the awarding body.”