A HOMELESS man convicted of a string of sexual offences has been jailed for 12 weeks and given a restraining order.

Martin Darrell Smith, 52, targeted a 26-year-old man, sexually assaulting him on one occasion and attempting to do so twice more.

He also tried to sexually assault a 33-year-old woman as she walked along Bournemouth beach and tried to grab a 54-year-old woman as she walked along Bournemouth’s East Cliff with her husband.

Smith, who is said to remain “in total denial” of the offences, pleaded not guilty during a trial earlier this month but was found guilty.

Bournemouth Magistrates’ Court was told that Smith is a former grammar school pupil whose parents died when he was young. He was left the proceeds of a house sale but ran out of money more than 10 years ago and now has no family and no friends.

The trial was told Smith assaulted his male victim on December 10, 2012. The man was walking along Old Christchurch Road when Smith crossed the road towards him and reached out and touched his groin. He had attempted to do so on two previous occasions.

The first woman said he veered towards her as she walked on the promenade at Bournemouth’s West Cliff in January 2013, and the second said he silently approached her and reached around her as she walked on the East Cliff on December 30, 2012.

In a statement, one woman told the court: “If I were to see him again I would be scared and in fear for my personal safety. I have been left angry and the attack made me feel dirty.”

The other woman said: “His behaviour is totally unacceptable. He has made me feel unsafe in the area in which I live.”

The male victim said he has been made to feel nervous and described Smith’s actions as “disgusting.”

Sentencing, District Judge Stephen Nicholls jailed Smith for a total of 12 weeks and issued a restraining order prohibiting him from entering Gervis Road indefinitely.