A 'SEX pest' pensioner who repeatedly lied to avoid a court case - including telling magistrates he was 81 not 74 - has been jailed for six months after he admitted groping two vulnerable women at his guesthouse.

Morris Mendoza – who styled himself as ‘Lord Mendoza’ after friends bought him the title - admitted five counts of sexual assault on the first day of a planned trial.

The 74-year-old, of Sway Gardens in Bournemouth, told probation officers the offences were "mischief" as he was interviewed for a pre-sentence report.

But a judge at Bournemouth Crown Court instead told him: "You are a thoroughly dishonest sexual pest who took advantage of two vulnerable women."

The court heard that all of the offences took place in 2012 at Studio Guesthouse in Weymouth, which has now been sold.

Mendoza, who was the proprietor, pinned one of the victims to a bed and tried to kiss her, later claiming he'd had a "funny turn" because of his medication.

He groped the second woman and attempted to kiss her, later making explicit remarks about a sex act he said he wished to perform on her.

One of the women called him a "master manipulator" in a victim impact statement read aloud to the court by prosecutor Rob Welling.

The statement detailed her feelings about the defendant, ending: "He made me feel humiliated, embarrassed and ashamed."

Mendoza, who holds a string of historic dishonesty convictions and is known by a number of aliases, allowed the women to "believe he was important", Mr Welling said.

"He claims family had been killed in the Holocaust, which simply cannot be substantiated by officers' enquiries," he said.

"He holds no formal position in the Jewish community but claims he was the leader of that community in Weymouth."

The defendant also lied repeatedly in a bid to delay the court, it was heard.

Among the references handed to Judge Peter Johnson as part of Mendoza's mitigation was a letter from an inspector at Dorset Police thanking the defendant for his presentation at a road policing conference in December.

The week before the conference, Mendoza had been due at Dorchester Crown Court, but failed to appear after saying he was too ill to attend.

Tim Akers, mitigating, said the defendant "has the capacity to do good".

"He has called himself 'Lord' in the past - he informs me he was given a certificate by some friends and used the name on it," he said.

"One may take the view that one cannot blame him for wanting to try and create a better life for himself, a different life for himself, than the life he was living when he was committing offences some 20 years ago."

Mr Akers admitted that Mendoza appears to have shown a "lack of acceptance of responsibility" for his offending, adding: "It is clearly not mischief.

"It clearly goes way beyond that."

Sentencing the defendant to six months behind bars and a restraining order preventing him from contacting the two women, Judge Peter Johnson said: "You have done your level best to evade justice, but justice has finally caught up with you."

The judge told Mendoza, who claimed to be 81 when he appeared for the first time before magistrates, that he has a "remarkable and persistent record of dishonesty" in his background.

"You have tried to thwart the progress of this case," Judge Johnson said.

"In short, you have added to the misery of these two women."