A PAKISTANI man who exposed himself and sexually assaulted random women in Worcester was shocked to find himself in a country where women dress immodestly, a court was told.

Mohammed Farooq faces deportation after he was sentenced to two years in prison, followed by four years on licence, for three separate attacks on women in just over 48 hours.

At a trial at Worcester Crown Court last month, Farooq, of Sansome Place, Worcester, was found guilty of two counts of exposure, one count of committing an offence with the intention of committing a further sexual offence and of sexual assault.

The 30-year-old, who worked in IT security, maintained throughout he had not committed the crimes, which took place in Market Passage, Worcester, in the early hours of September 4 and 6 last year.

On the first morning, he exposed himself to two women while performing a sex act on himself and on the second, he touched a woman sexually.

But police caught Farooq after reviewing hours of CCTV – a job made easier as he had some repetitive and distinctive behaviour which allowed them to build up a detailed picture of his activities on the evenings of the offences.

A psychological assessment found that there was nothing wrong mentally with Farooq, apart from some mild depression.

Bernard O’Brien, defending, said: “He comes from a country where women are required to dress modestly and are not really allowed to associate with men.

“So coming here, where young women have far more freedom and dress perhaps in a rather different way, was something of a shock to this man.”

He added that – physically – no great harm was done to any of Farooq’s victims.

But the number and growing seriousness of the attacks concerned the judge, who imposed the two-year sentence on Farooq.

Judge Toby Hooper said the conviction would serve as a warning to other sex offenders.

He said: “You will be caught, you will be convicted and you will be punished.”Farooq, who has to sign the sex offenders register, now faces deportation because his prison sentence is longer than 12 months.

West Mercia Police welcomed the sentence.

Detective Constable Matt Cartwright said: “Farooq caused much distress to three young women in the short time he offended.

“Many officers were given the task of tracking down Farooq and taking him off the streets to prevent any further offences or even more serious behaviour taking place.

“South Worcestershire police take sexual offending of any kind extremely seriously.”