[A] SERIAL sex pest who groped one woman in Carlisle city centre and tried to sexually assault another has been jailed.
Michael Francis McShane, 61, pinched the bottom of a female as she used an English Street cashpoint on January 23.
Two days later, he pestered a woman close to Carlisle train station. He began to take hold of her arm and then tried to grab her breast.
The city’s crown court heard that victim branded his criminal conduct “disgusting”, and had been left “jumpy and nervous by the ordeal”.
McShane, drunk on both occasions, was said to have 289 offences to his name. These included 13 for sexual assault and a further 10 for breaching court orders aimed at curbing his lewd conduct.
McShane was making attempts to address his drinking and linked offending, but his barrister conceded that when intoxicated “he can’t help himself”.
He admitted sexual assault, attempted assault, assault by beating and breaching a previous court order.
Judge James Adkin jailed McShane, latterly of Aglionby Street, Carlisle, for 29 months. A sexual harm prevention order will be made later this month.
“You are a nuisance offender on the streets of Carlisle,” Judge Adkin told him.